At the Africa Oil Week (AOW) 2025 Ministerial and CEO Leadership Forum, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, reaffirmed Nigeria’s leadership in advancing Africa’s energy security while advocating for deeper regional integration. He stressed that harmonized policies, shared infrastructure, and technical expertise are essential to address Africa’s energy poverty and reduce dependence on external markets. The Minister revealed that Africa spends over $120 billion annually on hydrocarbon imports, calling this a major capital flight that undermines local development.
Lokpobiri emphasized that the continent’s real challenge is not capital access but a lack of regulatory alignment and fiscal stability, which discourages investment. To demonstrate Nigeria’s leadership, he announced the creation of the West African Reference Market (WARM), designed to leverage Nigeria’s growing refining capacity to supply petroleum products across West Africa. Addressing the energy transition, he noted that the Paris Agreement does not mandate abandoning fossil fuels but reducing emissions, underscoring Africa’s low contribution of only 3% of global CO₂. He concluded by urging African nations to unite, retain value within the continent, and finance their own energy future.
Key Takeaways: Nigeria’s leadership in Africa’s energy sector, particularly through the proposed West African Reference Market (WARM), offers the potential to reduce the continent’s $120 billion annual hydrocarbon import bill, foster regional integration via shared infrastructure and harmonized standards, and attract greater investment through regulatory alignment. By leveraging its refining capacity, Nigeria can emerge as a hub for petroleum supply across West Africa, strengthening trade and regional influence. At the same time, a balanced energy transition focused on emissions reduction rather than abandoning fossil fuels ensures Africa can responsibly harness its resources for growth, while Nigeria positions itself as a strategic driver of the continent’s energy security and integration agenda.