Nigeria, IEA sign energy cooperation agreement
Nigeria and the International Energy Agency have signed a joint work programme aimed at improving energy data, policy development and investment across the country’s energy sector.
The agreement formally begins Nigeria’s partnership with the Paris-based agency following its admission as an association country.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Abuja, the vice-president, Kashim Shettima, described Nigeria’s admission as an important milestone and evidence of growing international confidence in the country’s energy and economic policies.
Representing President Bola Tinubu, Shettima said the partnership would help Nigeria draw on the IEA’s expertise as the government seeks to harness the country’s oil, gas and renewable energy resources for economic growth and energy security.
“Nigeria’s admission as an association country with the IEA is a significant milestone for our country,” Shettima said in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha.
He said Nigeria would benefit from the agency’s institutional knowledge, technical expertise and global reach as it works to reform its energy sector.
The vice-president also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to working with international partners to promote an energy transition that is fair and responsive to Nigeria’s development needs.
The IEA’s executive director, Fatih Birol, said the organisation provides advice and expertise to governments on oil, gas, solar and nuclear energy, as well as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
Birol said Nigeria’s admission followed extensive discussions and an assessment by the agency’s governing board. He added that the IEA would support Nigeria in areas including clean cooking, gas-market development, policy formulation and the training of energy professionals.
“The IEA will accompany the Nigerian energy sector in the coming years towards a better energy future,” he said.
The minister of state for petroleum resources (gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the joint programme would enable IEA experts to work with Nigerian officials to produce reliable data for energy planning and investment.
The minister of state for foreign affairs, Sola Enikanoaiye, described the partnership as strategically important and commended Nigeria’s diplomatic mission in Paris for its role in securing the agreement.
The director-general of the Energy Commission of Nigeria, Mustapha Abdullahi, said the commission had previously worked with the IEA on Nigeria’s national energy master plan.
He expressed confidence that Nigeria’s new status and the joint programme would provide a formal structure for deeper cooperation between the commission and the international agency.