Nigeria Ahead In Africa’s $43bn Estimated Oil & Gas Investment

An estimated investment opportunity in Africa’s oil and gas industry in which operators and developers are expected to spend a total of $43 billion in 2025, is expected to boost Nigeria’s chances in deepwater exploration projects.

Nigeria, with vast reserves and an untapped assets portfolio is leading and driving growth in the continent as established producers and newcomers see growing investments, according to the African Energy Chamber’s latest report.

Longer term projections point to capital expenditure (capex) hitting a decade-high of $54 billion in 2030, following fresh Final Investment Decisions (FIDs), the chamber said in its State of African Energy 2025 Outlook Report.

This year’s capex is slightly lower compared to the $47 billion investments in 2024, which saw a 23 per cent jump in capex on oil and gas projects compared to the previous year.

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Going forward, West and North Africa are expected to lead the spending spree through 2030.  West Africa alone is poised to drive over half of the continent’s capex to 2030, fueled by established oil giants like Nigeria and Angola.

In the latter half of the decade, emerging players like Mauritania, Senegal, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire are also set to make significant contributions to capex.

North Africa, with key players such as Libya, Algeria, and Egypt, is expected to account for roughly 35 per cent of the expenditure, according to the report.

Despite the growing emphasis on natural gas with international majors exploring and putting online gas projects and LNG export facilities around Africa, projections indicate that liquid hydrocarbons will still hold the lion’s share of capex, attracting 60 per cent of the total investment through 2030.

Also, natural gas is gradually gaining ground and its share of annual expenditure is set to increase from around 30 per cent in 2023 to more than 40 per cent by the end of the decade, the African Energy Chamber’s report said.

In recent years, international majors have focused on new gas and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) projects in West Africa and the exploration hotspot Namibia further south, where massive oil reserves have been found.

BY CHIKA IZUORA, Lagos

An estimated investment opportunity in Africa’s oil and gas industry in which operators and developers are expected to spend a total of $43 billion in 2025, is expected to boost Nigeria’s chances in deepwater exploration projects.

Nigeria, with vast reserves and an untapped assets portfolio is leading and driving growth in the continent as established producers and newcomers see growing investments, according to the African Energy Chamber’s latest report.

Longer term projections point to capital expenditure (capex) hitting a decade-high of $54 billion in 2030, following fresh Final Investment Decisions (FIDs), the chamber said in its State of African Energy 2025 Outlook Report.

This year’s capex is slightly lower compared to the $47 billion investments in 2024, which saw a 23 per cent jump in capex on oil and gas projects compared to the previous year.

Going forward, West and North Africa are expected to lead the spending spree through 2030.  West Africa alone is poised to drive over half of the continent’s capex to 2030, fueled by established oil giants like Nigeria and Angola.

In the latter half of the decade, emerging players like Mauritania, Senegal, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire are also set to make significant contributions to capex.

North Africa, with key players such as Libya, Algeria, and Egypt, is expected to account for roughly 35 per cent of the expenditure, according to the report.

Despite the growing emphasis on natural gas with international majors exploring and putting online gas projects and LNG export facilities around Africa, projections indicate that liquid hydrocarbons will still hold the lion’s share of capex, attracting 60 per cent of the total investment through 2030.

Also, natural gas is gradually gaining ground and its share of annual expenditure is set to increase from around 30 per cent in 2023 to more than 40 per cent by the end of the decade, the African Energy Chamber’s report said.

In recent years, international majors have focused on new gas and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) projects in West Africa and the exploration hotspot Namibia further south, where massive oil reserves have been found.