Policy clarity and regulatory consistency have positioned Nigeria as a growing destination for global clean energy investment, attracting more than $3.6 billion in the past year, according to Mustafa Abdullahi, the Director-General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN).
Abdullahi disclosed this during a high-level panel session on “Unlocking Nigeria’s Energy Future: Policy, Innovation and Investment,” held in partnership with BusinessDay and Schneider Electric in Lagos.
He said the clear policy direction set by the current administration, through the National Energy Policy and National Energy Master Plan, has created investor confidence and unlocked a wave of foreign direct investment into the country’s energy sector.
“It would interest us to note that since the release of the National Energy Master Plan, the Australian government and several other partners have collectively brought in over $3.6 billion in energy investments,” Abdullahi said. “That tells you what clarity and strong policy frameworks bring to the table.”
Abdullahi emphasised that one of the major reforms driving investor confidence was giving the National Energy Policy and Master Plan legal strength through gazetting.
Earlier, he said, the country’s energy policy framework had no legal backing, which often deterred investors wary of regulatory uncertainty. However, the government’s recent actions have changed that narrative.
“Before President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the National Energy Policy had no legal basis,” he said. “But last year, the President unveiled the National Energy Master Plan and Policy as official gazetted instruments. That legal recognition alone has changed investor sentiment.”
He also highlighted the Electricity Act 2023 as a major policy milestone. The Act decentralises Nigeria’s electricity market, empowering state governments to regulate and manage electricity within their jurisdictions, an approach he said is already attracting new players to sub-national markets.
