Energy transition requires regulatory reforms and green capital, say industry leaders

Key points

• Alhaji Lai Mohammed called for investor-friendly regulations and competitive fiscal incentives to accelerate Nigeria’s energy transition.
• Sahara Group’s Kola Adeshina urged policymakers to move from ambition to project execution through clear legal frameworks on carbon ownership.
• Experts emphasized that green ambition requires matching capital via blended finance, green bonds, and carbon markets.
• The Rural Electrification Agency advocated treating decarbonisation as a broader strategy for industrial renewal and competitiveness.

Main story

Nigeria must implement transparent regulatory frameworks and investor-friendly fiscal incentives to attract private capital for its decarbonisation initiatives, energy leaders urged at a industry summit in Lagos.

Speaking at the Oriental News Nigeria 2026 Conference themed around carbon capture and extractive sector reforms, Chairman of Portland Gas Ltd., Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stressed that infrastructure alone cannot meet Nigeria’s climate goals or net-zero commitments. He highlighted that regulatory certainty is essential to unlocking private investment for expanded natural gas utilization and carbon capture projects.

Mohammed pointed to financing as the primary hurdle facing clean energy deployment across Africa. He advocated for innovative financing models, including green bonds, blended finance, and carbon markets, to de-risk projects and draw long-term private capital into the energy transition sector.

Corroborating this stance, Group Managing Director of Sahara Group, Kola Adeshina, noted that while carbon capture offers a practical path toward lower emissions, its success depends heavily on investor confidence. Adeshina called on regulators to provide unambiguous rules governing carbon ownership, storage rights, liability, and permitting to make carbon capture projects commercially viable.

Adding an institutional perspective, representatives from the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and academia argued that decarbonisation must be treated as a holistic national strategy. REA Executive Director Gboyega Ayoade noted that emission reduction goals should simultaneously drive industrial renewal, protect local jobs, and enhance energy security across the country.

The issues

The call for policy clarity underscores a fundamental hurdle in Nigeria’s energy transition: bridging the gap between high-level policy pledges and bankable projects. While the country targets net-zero emissions by 2060, international green capital remains hesitant without clear legal definitions regarding carbon ownership, clear storage rights, and transparent revenue-sharing models. Establishing these frameworks is critical to moving carbon capture and gas infrastructure from policy concepts into active investments.

What’s being said

“Regulatory certainty, transparent policies and investor-friendly frameworks are essential to unlocking billions of dollars required to expand gas utilisation, drive economic growth and strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global energy market.” — Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Chairman, Portland Gas Ltd.

“We must move from policies to projects, from communication to capital, and from ambition to measurable action.” — Kola Adeshina, Group Managing Director, Sahara Group

“Saving the climate is expensive. Green ambition without green money is only a lovely idea.” — Prof. Silk Ogbu, Lagos Business School

What’s next

Regulators, the National Assembly, and energy operators will continue refining the draft National Decarbonisation Bill alongside the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) decarbonisation framework ahead of upcoming legislative reviews.

Bottom line

Accelerating Nigeria’s energy transition hinges on establishing clear regulations and bankable legal frameworks that convert environmental goals into attractive private investments.

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