Nigeria attracted over $8 billion (about N12.8 trillion) investments in deepwater projects and gas Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) in one year, a presidential aide said.

The Special Adviser on Energy to President Bola Tinubu, Olu Verheijen, disclosed this on Wednesday at the 2025 Africa CEO Forum, being held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

A statement on the address of Ms Verheijen at the event was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja by Senan Murray, an aide of Ms Verheijen.

According to Mr Murray, the special adviser told policymakers, investors, and industry leaders across the continent that the feat was achieved through decisive actions by President Tinubu.

She said the actions focused on improved fiscal terms, streamlined contracting timelines, greater clarity to local content rules, and power sector reforms enabling gas-to-power commercial viability.

Ms Verheijen, therefore, charged industry leaders across the continent to take a cue from Nigeria by ensuring that Africa moves beyond appeals for support but becomes an investment destination by design, anchored in policy clarity, commercial logic, and strategic intent.

“Africa must partner smartly, not from dependency, but from aligned strategic interest.

“Nigeria has been able to prove that this approach works. We moved from gridlock to greenlight, and investors responded.

“Nigeria’s attainment of an increase in indigenous equity in gas, from 69 per cent to 83 per cent, is not just a statistic but a seismic shift in ownership and control of Africa’s energy future,’’ she said.

Ms Verheijen urged African investors, DFIs, banks, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds to be strategic in focus and strive to fill the vacuum left by International Oil Companies (IOCs), not just with funding, but with fit-for-purpose instruments and risk-sharing structures.

“Our sweet spot is onshore, shelf, and domestic gas. That’s where African players must dominate, because we understand the terrain, the risk, and the reward,’’ she said.

Ms Verheijen celebrated the feats of African private sector champions, like Seplat, Oando and Renaissance, who, according to her, are no longer just “local players.”

She specifically hailed Renaissance Africa Energy Consortium’s acquisition of Shell’s onshore JV, which she said is “a symbolic transition from colonial-era concessions to indigenous control.’’

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She said the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery, the largest single-train refinery in the world, was built by African capital, African hands, and African ambition.

According to her, the project is not just infrastructure, but proof that African industrial scale is not aspirational, but operational.

Concluding, Ms Verheijen urged the players across the continent to get their policies, commercial logic and strategic intent right to attract capital and investments.

“When we get that right, capital won’t hesitate; it will pursue us. The future will not be given to Africa. It must be built deliberately, unapologetically, and on our terms,’’ she said. (NAN)