World
Frankfurter Botschaft to Host Invest in African Energy Reception
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
After extensive negotiations these several months, Germany has accepted to host the “Invest in African Energy Reception” at Frankfurter Botschaft on February 23. The programme primarily aims at showcasing investment opportunities across Africa’s burgeoning energy sector as the next significant phase of the organization’s European investment tour. The Invest in African Energy gathering at Frankfurter Botschaft is organized by the South African-based African Energy Chamber (AEC).
Following successful Invest in African Energy Receptions held in London last year and Oslo in January 2023, in partnership with global energy market research firm, Rystad Energy, and leading pan-African financial services provider, the African Export-Import Bank, the AEC’s German leg of the Invest in African Energy European Roadshow aims to maximize energy investment partnerships between Africa and Europe’s largest economy.
Featuring German, European and global investors, private and public sector institutions, African energy policymakers and companies, as well as stakeholders across both the German and African energy value chains, the Invest in African Energy Frankfurt event will highlight energy investment, economic growth, energy resilience and environmental sustainability prospects for both Germany and Africa on the back of improved energy development, exploitation and trade ties.
It will also address the energy infrastructure development and monetization initiatives in partnership with global players, foreign investors and governments. As Africa’s biggest gathering for energy ministers, energy policymakers, companies and investors – it will, therefore, be crucial for shaping discussions to find a pragmatic approach around the key role the continent’s massive yet largely unexplored hydrocarbon resources play in driving making energy poverty history while triggering newfound socioeconomic growth.
“The Chamber is honoured to expand its Invest in African Energy European Roadshow to Germany, where we seek to unite African and German energy stakeholders. German companies have the technology and expertise that Africa needs to maximize its global energy leadership role, and we hope platforms such as Invest in African Energy will foster a new era of improved cooperation between the country and the African continent ahead of the 2023 edition of African Energy Week this October, where more industry-changing deals will be signed and partnerships formed,” said NJ Ayuk, the Executive Chairman of the AEC.
According to several reports, European countries are looking for more reliable energy suppliers. With Germany optimizing the diversification of its energy supply away from Russia due to the Russian-Ukraine war that began on February 24, Africa appears to represent a perfect partner to drive the energy market stability.
While the demand for gas via liquefied natural gas continues to increase and take on a sizable share of the global energy mix, Africa is expanding its share of the global gas supply.
With Africa requiring up to $1.7 trillion in the upstream gas sector to increase its gas production as the continent’s role in shaping global energy security intensifies through 2050, Germany has a key role in helping the continent maximize and monetize resources. African countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Namibia and Angola are well positioned to supply Germany, and the Invest in African Energy Frankfurt event represents an ideal platform for Germany to enhance energy ties with Africa and secure its energy future.
“Hydrogen projects have been on the platform of all Germany Africa energy investments. Natural gas has seen new interest from Germany. Germany’s launch of two LNG import facilities within 12 months highlights the country’s commitment to securing its energy supply via gas and LNG. Africa is well positioned to be the country’s number one supplier, and the Invest in African Energy Frankfurt event represents the ideal platform where improved Germany-African energy ties can be turned into reality,” NJ Ayuk said.
Furthermore, while Africa is positioning itself as a global leader in green hydrogen on the back of the continent’s massive gas and renewable energy resources, with countries such as Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Mauritania and Egypt spearheading industry growth, the recent trip to South Africa and Namibia by German Economy Minister, Robert Habeck, in search of hydrogen to ensure energy security highlights the vital role African energy can play in shaping the energy transition and strengthening Germany’s energy security.
In this regard, the AEC, through the Invest in African Energy Frankfurt event, is committed to heightening German energy investments in Africa to accelerate the continent’s infrastructure build-up across the entire green hydrogen value chain. This will, in turn, provide a win-win situation for both Germany and Africa as both parties seek energy market stability, economic expansion, environmental sustainability and GDP growth.
With over 600 million people across the African continent lacking access to reliable electricity and 900 million to clean cooking solutions, the continent’s estimated 125.3 billion barrels of crude oil, 620 trillion cubic feet of gas and untapped renewable potential present a huge opportunity to alleviate energy poverty. In this scenario, Germany represents an ideal partner for the continent as it moves to maximize energy investments and make an energy poverty history by 2030.
By exploring the benefits and challenges associated with these exploration campaigns, investors play a unique role in sustainable development, as Africa has roughly 40 billion undeveloped barrels of oil and gas reserves in the energy industry. According to the World Bank, Russia also holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves, the second-largest coal reserves, and the eighth-largest oil reserves. With the Russia-Ukraine crisis and Russia, the leading energy supplier redirecting its search markets in the Asian region, it has brought good opportunities for new partners for Africa.
Over the past years after the Soviet collapse, Russia has expressed heightened interest in exploring and producing oil and gas in Africa. Emboldened African leaders and industry executives have accepted proposals and signed several agreements with Russian companies, but little has been achieved in the sector.
With the rapidly changing geopolitical conditions and economic fragmentation fraught with competition and rivalry, African leaders have to understand that Russia might not heavily invest in the oil and gas sector, not even in the needed infrastructure in this industry.
NJ Ayuk observes that Africa has already made an indelible mark in the oil and gas industry. Africans must therefore become more accountable and plan better in the energy sectors. Some potential external investors, such as Russia, have for many decades shown interest in this sector but have not delivered promptly on their promises and signed agreements.
Some experts believe that Europe can look to Africa as the preferred energy supplier. Africa is ready to welcome investors currently pulling out of Russia if they can genuinely invest in developing oil and gas infrastructure which Africa seriously lacks in this industry. For Africa at this point in time, that’s a real opportunity, and understandably, Russia aspires to be the leading supplier on the global market and therefore seeks to marginalize potential producers such as Africa. In practical terms, it is very cautious making financial commitments in Africa.
“The demand for oil and gas from Africa is on the rise, especially as we expect domestic usage to rise significantly, driven by a growing population and corresponding economic activity. It is, therefore, key for countries across the continent to leverage existing oil and gas infrastructure to fast-track the development of assets that would otherwise have been stranded,” said Verner Ayukegba, Senior Vice President of the African Energy Chamber. “We are delighted to continue working with interested investors and researchers to bring forward vital data that allows decision makers to drive investments in Africa’s energy sector, which ultimately will lead to ending energy poverty in Africa by 2030.”
According to Ayukegba, the African Energy Chamber continues to investigate how the accelerated investment and development of Africa’s infrastructure landscape will be key for ensuring oil and gas discoveries translate into long-term developments. Currently, there exists an infrastructure gap across the continent, a gap which significantly impacts exploration initiatives, bringing newfound challenges to project take-off and completion. Therefore, during the panel, speakers will explore this gap while making a strong case for an alternative, expert-backed solutions.
If Africa is to make energy history in Africa by 2030, the continent needs to maximize utilizing all available resources. As such, African countries with energy resources have the potential to change the continent’s energy landscape, especially at this time of unprecedented global changes and large-scale developments set to establish a multipolar system. In spite of these, Africa needs to boost its energy security and work consistently towards energy self-sufficiency within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and within the African Union Agenda 2063.
World
Russian-Nigerian Economic Diplomacy: Ajeokuta Symbolises Russia’s Remarkable Achievement in Nigeria
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Over the past two decades, Russia’s economic influence in Africa—and specifically in Nigeria—has been limited, largely due to a lack of structured financial support from Russian policy banks and state-backed investment mechanisms. While Russian companies have demonstrated readiness to invest and compete with global players, they consistently cite insufficient government financial guarantees as a key constraint.
Unlike China, India, Japan, and the United States—which have provided billions in concessionary loans and credit lines to support African infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, and SMEs—Russia has struggled to translate diplomatic goodwill into substantial economic projects. For example, Nigeria’s trade with Russia accounts for barely 1% of total trade volume, while China and the U.S. dominate at over 15% and 10% respectively in the last decade. This disparity highlights the challenges Russia faces in converting agreements into actionable investment.
Lessons from Nigeria’s Past
The limited impact of Russian economic diplomacy echoes Nigeria’s own history of unfulfilled agreements during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. Over the past 20 years, ambitious energy, transport, and industrial initiatives signed with foreign partners—including Russia—often stalled or produced minimal results. In many cases, projects were approved in principle, but funding shortfalls, bureaucratic hurdles, and weak follow-through left them unimplemented. Nothing monumental emerged from these agreements, underscoring the importance of financial backing and sustained commitment.
China as a Model
Policy experts point to China’s systematic approach to African investments as a blueprint for Russia. Chinese state policy banks underwrite projects, de-risk investments, and provide finance often secured by African sovereign guarantees. This approach has enabled Chinese companies to execute large-scale infrastructure efficiently, expanding their presence across sectors while simultaneously investing in human capital.
Egyptian Professor Mohamed Chtatou at the International University of Rabat and Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, argues: “Russia could replicate such mechanisms to ensure companies operate with financial backing and risk mitigation, rather than relying solely on bilateral agreements or political connections.”
Russia’s Current Footprint in Africa
Russia’s economic engagement in Africa is heavily tied to natural resources and military equipment. In Zimbabwe, platinum rights and diamond projects were exchanged for fuel or fighter jets. Nearly half of Russian arms exports to Africa are concentrated in countries like Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Large-scale initiatives, such as the planned $10 billion nuclear plant in Zambia, have stalled due to a lack of Russian financial commitment, despite completed feasibility studies. Similar delays have affected nuclear projects in South Africa, Rwanda, and Egypt.
Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko and Senator Igor Morozov have emphasized parliamentary diplomacy and the creation of new financial instruments, such as investment funds under the Russian Export Center, to provide structured support for businesses and enhance trade cooperation. These measures are designed to address historical gaps in financing and ensure that agreements lead to tangible outcomes.
Opportunities and Challenges
Analysts highlight a fundamental challenge: Russia’s limited incentives in Africa. While China invests to secure resources and export markets, Russia lacks comparable commercial drivers. Russian companies possess technological and industrial capabilities, but without sufficient financial support, large-scale projects remain aspirational rather than executable.
The historic Russia-Africa Summits in Sochi and in St. Petersburg explicitly indicate a renewed push to deepen engagement, particularly in the economic sectors. President Vladimir Putin has set a goal to raise Russia-Africa trade from $20 billion to $40 billion over the next few years. However, compared to Asian, European, and American investors, Russia still lags significantly. UNCTAD data shows that the top investors in Africa are the Netherlands, France, the UK, the United States, and China—countries that combine capital support with strategic deployment.
In Nigeria, agreements with Russian firms over energy and industrial projects have yielded little measurable progress. Over 20 years, major deals signed during Obasanjo’s administration and renewed under subsequent governments often stalled at the financing stage. The lesson is clear: political agreements alone are insufficient without structured investment and follow-through.
Strategic Recommendations
For Russia to expand its economic influence in Africa, analysts recommend:
- Structured financial support: Establishing state-backed credit lines, policy bank guarantees, and investment funds to reduce project risks.
- Incentive realignment: Identifying sectors where Russian expertise aligns with African needs, including energy, industrial technology, and infrastructure.
- Sustained implementation: Turning signed agreements into tangible projects with clear timelines and milestones, avoiding the pitfalls of unfulfilled past agreements.
With proper financial backing, Russia can leverage its technological capabilities to diversify beyond arms sales and resource-linked deals, enhancing trade, industrial, and technological cooperation across Africa.
Conclusion
Russia’s Africa strategy remains a work in progress. Nigeria’s experience with decades of agreements that failed to materialize underscores the importance of structured financial commitments and persistent follow-through. Without these, Russia risks remaining a peripheral player (virtual investor) while Arab States such as UAE, China, the United States, and other global powers consolidate their presence.
The potential is evident: Africa is a fast-growing market with vast natural resources, infrastructure needs, and a young, ambitious population. Russia’s challenge—and opportunity—is to match diplomatic efforts with financial strategy, turning political ties into lasting economic influence.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has urged African governments to lean into structural tailwinds, warning that the global commodity landscape has entered a new phase of deepening split.
In its November 2025 commodity bulletin, the bank noted that markets are no longer moving in unison; instead, some are powered by structural demand while others are weakening under oversupply, shifting consumption patterns and weather-related dynamics.
As a result of this bifurcation, the Cairo-based lender tasked policymakers on the continent to manage supply-chain vulnerabilities and diversify beyond the commodity-export model.
The report highlights that commodities linked to energy transition, infrastructure development and geopolitical realignments are gaining momentum.
For instance, natural gas has risen sharply from 2024 levels, supported by colder-season heating needs, export disruptions around the Red Sea and tightening global supply. Lithium continues to surge on strong demand from electric-vehicle and battery-storage sectors, with growth projections of up to 45 per cent in 2026. Aluminium is approaching multi-year highs amid strong construction and automotive activity and smelter-level power constraints, while soybeans are benefiting from sustained Chinese purchases and adverse weather concerns in South America.
Even crude oil, which accounts for Nigeria’s highest foreign exchange earnings, though still lower year-on-year, is stabilising around $60 per barrel as geopolitical supply risks, including drone attacks on Russian facilities, offset muted global demand.
In contrast, several commodities that recently experienced strong rallies are now softening.
The bank noted that cocoa prices are retreating from record highs as West African crop prospects improve and inventories recover. Palm oil markets face oversupply in Southeast Asia and subdued demand from India and China, pushing stocks to multi-year highs. Sugar is weakening under expectations of a nearly two-million-tonne global surplus for the 2025/26 season, while platinum and silver are seeing headwinds from weaker industrial demand, investor profit-taking and hawkish monetary signals.
For Africa, the bank stresses that the implications are clear. Countries aligned with energy-transition metals and infrastructure-linked commodities stand to benefit from more resilient long-term demand.
It urged those heavily exposed to softening agricultural markets to accelerate a shift into processing, value addition and product diversification.
The bulletin also called for stronger market-intelligence systems, improved intra-African trade connectivity, and investment in logistics and regulatory capacity, noting that Africa’s competitiveness will depend on how quickly governments adapt to the new two-speed global environment.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A strategic partnership designed to accelerate worldwide enterprise adoption and monetisation of Network APIs has been entered into between Comviva and the global aggregator of standardised network APIs, Aduna.
The adoption would be done through Comviva’s flagship SaaS-based platform for programmable communications and network intelligence, NGAGE.ai.
The partnership combines Comviva’s NGAGE.ai platform and enterprise onboarding expertise with Aduna’s global operator consortium.
This unified approach provides enterprises with secure, scalable access to network intelligence while enabling telcos to monetise network capabilities efficiently.
The collaboration is further strengthened by Comviva’s proven leadership in the global digital payments and digital lending ecosystem— sectors that will be among the biggest adopters of Network APIs.
The NGAGE.ai platform is already active across 40+ countries, integrated with 100+ operators, and processing over 250 billion transactions annually for more than 7,000 enterprise customers. With its extensive global deployment, NGAGE.ai is positioned as one of the most scalable and trusted platforms for API-led network intelligence adoption.
“As enterprises accelerate their shift toward real-time, intelligence-driven operations, Network APIs will become foundational to digital transformation. With NGAGE.ai and Aduna’s global ecosystem, we are creating a unified and scalable pathway for enterprises to adopt programmable communications at speed and at scale.
“This partnership strengthens our commitment to helping telcos monetise network intelligence while enabling enterprises to build differentiated, secure, and future-ready digital experiences,” the chief executive of Comviva, Mr Rajesh Chandiramani, stated.
Also, the chief executive of Aduna, Mr Anthony Bartolo, noted that, “The next wave of enterprise innovation will be powered by seamless access to network intelligence.
“By integrating Comviva’s NGAGE.ai platform with Aduna’s global federation of operators, we are enabling enterprises to innovate consistently across markets with standardised, high-performance Network APIs.
“This collaboration enhances the value chain for operators and gives enterprises the confidence and agility needed to launch new services, reduce fraud, and deliver more trustworthy customer experiences worldwide.”
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn