West Africa Can Build $3trn Energy Market By 2035 Through Integrations – Expert

West Africa can build a $3 trillion energy economy by 2035 if countries harmonize regulations, data standards and infrastructure to allow cross-border trade, an energy expert has said.

Speaking on Tuesday at the West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference 2026 in Abuja, the chairman of RHS Advisory Limited, Mallam Suleiman Yahyah said regional integration is the only pathway to unlock scale, liquidity and investment in the sector.

“That means we harmonize activities so that one operator of a licensee in Ghana can operate in Nigeria, can trade in Nigeria. And that will mean that we have common product specifications, we have shared data standards, we have a modern energy contract, we have infrastructure to drive it, and we have the regional dispute resolution mechanism,” Yahyah said.

He noted that “if we do that, it is possible that by 2035, we can have a market that is $3 trillion cumulative.”

He pointed out that Africa’s energy imbalance makes integration urgent, explaining that the continent has 20 per cent of the global population and produces 7.5 per cent of global hydrocarbons, yet over 600 million people remain in energy poverty and more than a billion lack access to clean energy.

Yahyah called for the creation of a $3 billion naira-anchored settlement facility to provide liquidity, urging collaboration between Central Banks, African Finance Corporation, Afreximbank and the new African Energy Bank.

“Without liquidity, it is impossible to create an African or West African energy market that is going to be efficient,” he added.

On infrastructure, he said every project must be judged by its impact on access.

The expert proposed specific roles for countries; Senegal as a western gateway, Abidjan as a commercial and logistics hub, Ghana for balancing and storage, and Lagos as the Atlantic hub for liquidity and refinancing.

He also stressed the need for harmonization across the West African gas pipeline and road networks.

Yahyah further urged investment in talent and strategic partnerships with global pricing and data firms like S&P, Argus and Bloomberg.

He said Artificial Intelligence should be deployed to run market operations concurrently, and that KPIs must be set to measure affordability, reliability and energy rates.

He added that local content laws must be integrated regionally so that operators do not work in isolation, but as joint players in a single market.