Energy Security Now About Grid Resilience, Not Just Oil — Power Minister

The minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has said energy security in 2026 is no longer about oil and gas reserves alone, but about the resilience of entire power systems, including grids, critical minerals and the institutions that keep electricity flowing under stress.

Tegbe made the remarks onon Tuesday, in a keynote address at the opening plenary of the Middle East Energy 2026 Leadership Summit in Dubai, where he spoke on the theme “Energy Security and the Effect of Geopolitics” during the event’s 50th edition.

He told an audience of ministers, industry leaders and international dignitaries that while hydrocarbons remain important, the new definition of energy security must cover grid infrastructure, supply-chain reliability and the capital and regulatory frameworks that sustain power delivery to homes, hospitals and industries.

The minister positioned Nigeria’s ongoing power-sector reforms as a model for how developing economies can strengthen global energy security amid rising geopolitical fragmentation.

He cited the country’s more than 200 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves and its two-decade record of reliable liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply to Europe and Asia as part of Nigeria’s contribution to global energy stability.

Tegbe pointed to the Electricity Act of 2023 as the most far-reaching reform of Nigeria’s power sector in a generation, saying it ended a long-standing federal monopoly and effectively created 37 emerging electricity markets across the federation under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Capital does not flee risk; it flees uncertainty. Investors will price risk all day long; what they cannot price is a rule that changes after the contract is signed,” Tegbe said.

He described Nigeria’s reform agenda as, at its core, a credibility agenda built on regulatory certainty, contract sanctity and bankable offtake.

The minister set out four propositions for the summit’s delegates: Diversification, not diplomatic disengagement, is the surest form of strategic insurance.

Grids now deserve the same strategic seriousness historically reserved for fuel supply.

Affordability is itself a security issue. The global energy transition must be orderly, just and responsive to the circumstances of individual nations.

Africa at the centre of energy geopolitics Tegbe argued that Africa, home to 600 million people still without electricity, sits not at the periphery of global energy geopolitics but at its centre.

He pointed to the continent’s mineral wealth, solar resource, youthful workforce and fast-growing demand as factors that will shape energy security in London, Tokyo, Washington and Dubai alike in the decades ahead.

The minister called for partnerships that go beyond raw resource extraction to include local processing, manufacturing, skills transfer and patient capital.

“Nigeria has chosen to build” “Nigeria has chosen to build. Africa has chosen to build. And we invite you, in the spirit of this remarkable city and this landmark fiftieth summit, to build with us,” Tegbe told delegates in his closing remarks.

The minister’s Dubai engagements continue through the week, including a ministerial fireside on financing Africa’s power future as part of the summit’s Africa Spotlight programme.