West Africa Needs $3B Fund for $3T Energy Market

Suleiman Yahyah, the Chairman of RHG Advisory, addressed the West African Refined Fuel Market (WARFM) conference in Abuja, emphasizing that West Africa needs a $3 billion regional settlement facility, harmonized regulations, and deeper cross-border integration to unlock a potential $3 trillion cumulative energy market by 2035. He argued against treating energy development as a collection of individual national projects, advocating instead for a systems-based approach to correct market imbalances.

Yahyah highlighted that Africa produces only 7.5% of global hydrocarbons despite accounting for 20% of the global population, with over 600 million people in energy poverty, particularly acute in West Africa. He proposed an integrated regional energy market where countries maintain regulatory responsibilities while facilitating cross-border transactions.

This would necessitate harmonizing regulatory frameworks and establishing common product specifications. Yahyah called for collaboration among central banks and financial institutions to create the proposed settlement facility, which he estimated would be around $3 billion, anchored in Naira.