The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has called for deeper Africa-wide collaboration in oil and gas trade through the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking at the 2026 AfCFTA Summit in Yenagoa, hosted by the NCDMB in partnership with the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria and Legal Concierge, Executive Secretary, Felix Ogbe said regional integration was key to unlocking Africa’s energy potential.
The summit, themed “Unlocking Africa’s Energy Future through AfCFTA,” brought together policymakers, investors, industry executives and development partners from across the continent and beyond.
Ogbe said AfCFTA, rooted in the African Union’s Agenda 2063, was designed to foster trade integration, innovation and the free movement of goods, capital and people across Africa’s 1.4 billion population market.
He noted that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector formally aligned with the trade pact in 2022, adopting a three-pillar framework centred on opportunity identification, capacity development and capacity exportation.
According to him, Nigeria has built strengths in oilfield services, refining, logistics bases, gas pipelines and a skilled technical workforce capable of serving regional markets.
He added that local content laws have boosted domestic capabilities in marine asset ownership, fabrication and installation of production systems such as pressure vessels and subsea equipment.
Ogbe described capacity exportation as the next frontier, urging African nations to address compliance rules, trade barriers and work permit limitations that hinder cross-border industrial cooperation.
He cited infrastructure projects including the Dangote Refinery and continental gas pipelines as signs of progress but questioned what additional policy support was needed to secure Africa’s energy independence.
The NCDMB chief said AfCFTA offers a platform for Africa to move from fragmented economies to a competitive supply chain system, leveraging its mineral resources to shift from raw exports to domestic manufacturing of energy equipment.