By Benson Daniel
Africa is increasingly becoming central to the global energy conversation as countries seek to secure reliable power, diversify energy sources and gain greater control over critical resources, Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe has said.
Tegbe made the assertion while delivering a keynote address at the opening plenary of the Middle East Energy 2026 Leadership Summit, where he argued that the continent’s growing energy demand and vast natural resources would give it an increasingly important role in shaping global energy security.
He said energy security could no longer be measured simply by the quantity of oil and gas reserves held by a country. Instead, it should be viewed through the resilience of the entire energy system, including electricity grids, critical mineral supply chains, access to capital and the institutions responsible for keeping energy flowing to homes, hospitals and industries.
The minister positioned Nigeria as an important player in that changing global landscape, citing the country’s more than 200 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and its long record of supplying liquefied natural gas to international markets.
He also pointed to the Electricity Act of 2023 as a major turning point for Nigeria’s power industry, saying the legislation ended the longstanding federal monopoly over electricity regulation and opened the way for the emergence of electricity markets at the state level.
Tegbe said the reforms were designed to create greater certainty for investors by strengthening regulatory frameworks, protecting contracts and developing bankable arrangements for electricity projects.
He stressed that investors could accommodate risks when operating in difficult markets, but uncertainty over regulations and contractual obligations remained a much greater obstacle to long term investment.
The minister’s remarks come at a time when countries are reassessing their energy strategies amid geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and the global transition towards cleaner sources of energy.
According to Tegbe, diversification should be viewed as a form of strategic insurance rather than an excuse for countries to disengage from international partnerships. He also argued that electricity grids deserve the same strategic attention historically given to fuel supplies.
For Africa, the stakes are particularly high. The continent is home to an estimated 600 million people without access to electricity, while its population, industries and cities continue to expand rapidly.
Tegbe argued that this energy deficit should not only be seen as a development challenge but also as an issue with global security implications. Africa’s mineral deposits, solar resources, youthful workforce and expanding consumer markets could significantly influence future energy investment and supply chains.
He called for international partnerships that move beyond the extraction of raw materials. In his view, investment should also support local processing, manufacturing, technology transfer, skills development and the provision of long term capital.
Such an approach, he said, would allow African countries to capture more value from their resources while creating jobs and strengthening domestic industrial capacity.
Tegbe also highlighted affordability as an important component of energy security, noting that electricity and other forms of energy must remain accessible to households and businesses if economic development is to be sustained.
He advocated an orderly and fair global energy transition that recognises the different circumstances of individual countries. While developed economies may have greater capacity to move rapidly towards cleaner technologies, many African countries still face major gaps in electricity access and industrial development.
Nigeria’s challenge, therefore, is to expand access to reliable and affordable electricity while attracting the investment required to develop its gas resources, strengthen transmission and distribution networks and expand renewable energy.
The minister said Nigeria’s ongoing reforms could provide useful lessons for other developing economies seeking to build more resilient energy systems.
As global competition for energy resources and critical minerals intensifies, Africa’s ability to combine its resource wealth with infrastructure development, local manufacturing and stronger institutions could determine how much influence the continent exercises in the emerging energy order.
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