Economy
Energy Forum to Link Nigeria, Others to European Investors
By Adedapo Adesanya
Africa Oil & Power (AOP) is set to host African government delegations and European financiers at the first AOP Investor Forum slated for Paris from June 16-18.
The event, which will be dedicated to linking European investors and African companies and governments, will promote continued synergy between petroleum and renewables actors and drive a new positive narrative aimed to balance African development needs, climate goals and economic growth in Africa.
The two-day event will see African energy contracts on the table at the Paris Forum for European investors to participate in deals that will drive Africa’s growth post-COVID.
The participants include Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Mozambique, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Sudan, and Uganda.
For Nigeria, opportunities are available for European investors to partner with local firms and build critical energy infrastructure in the continent’s largest market.
Ghana is considered a stable environment and strong track record will promote interest in Ghana’s electricity, gas-to-power and oil projects in 2021.
Senegal is home to West African renewables and gas megaprojects, and recipient of a record $983 million in FDI in 2019; Côte d’Ivoire is the leading economy in Francophone West Africa, looking to oil and gas for further growth while Niger, under a new government in place and a pipeline planned to Benin is emerging as a Sahelian energy hub.
Mozambique, has been touted as Africa’s future natural gas megaproducer, with the $20 billion Mozambique LNG project FID approved and projects moving ahead fast with a reformed sector and political will are driving Angola’s post-COVID recovery. It is home to Africa’s largest offshore projects and is holding a series of licensing rounds.
For Equatorial Guinea, the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons seeks investors for its ambitious gas mega hub and continued gas development projects while the Central African oil producer, Gabon has reformed its sector in recent years, with a new petroleum code in 2019 and a licensing round ongoing from 2018 to 2020.
Uganda is likely to become East Africa’s next oil producer, it’s Lake Albert region has attracted great attention and the country will complete its national elections this month while South Sudan has invested in power projects and is open to new entrants in renewables and petroleum. A licensing round is set to be held soon.
Speaking on this, AOP’s Managing Director, Mrs Renée Montez-Avinir, said, “Energy, in all its forms including oil and gas, is the cornerstone of Africa’s re-emergence from COVID. We believe that now is the time for African companies and governments to look again at their European partnerships and to push forward with deals that power their economies.”
“The energy transition, and the future funding of African oil and gas projects, plus Europe’s role in African investment going forward, will be at the heart of our discussions at the Paris investor forum. Oil and gas will continue to play an important part in Africa’s energy mix and economic expansion,” she continued.
Africa Oil & Power looks forward to welcoming major international oil companies, institutional investors and private equity firms to take part in the forum. AOP will make details of projects and deals available to its network in advance of the conference, and expects multiple agreements to be signed at the event itself.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
