Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Pushes for Attracting Investments in Africa's Energy Sector with Competitive Policies
Immigrant Loyalty Not Guaranteed, Attraction to Capital Required - Verheijen
Forget about patriotic capital, Africa! It's all about risk-adjusted returns, according to Olu Verheijen, special advisor to President Bola Tinubu on energy. In a fiery speech at the 2025 Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, she stressed the significance of creating an environment that lures foreign investments.
Verheijen put it bluntly: "Capital has no passport. Sentimental appeals to African capital are a distraction. Capital is opportunistic, not patriotic. It flows where risk-adjusted returns are competitive."
In a statement released by her team lead, Communications, Senan Murray, she underlined the importance of making doing business in Africa easier for foreign investors.
To attract the estimated $500 billion in global upstream spend annually, Africa must follow suit. Verheijen argued that this involves offering the same clarity and competitiveness as other hotspots like the Permian Basin, Guyana, and Brazil.
She pointed out that Africa had managed to attract $340 billion in upstream capital between 2011 and 2015, but this figure is expected to drop to less than $130 billion by 2026-2030. Verheijen referred to the situation as a "structural decimation" rather than a "funding winter."
Capital these days is attracted to projects with strong economics, low carbon intensity, and predictable governance. According to Verheijen, these factors have resulted in billions of dollars in new investments in places like the Permian Basin, Guyana, and Brazil.
Verheijen believes that Nigerian success is a shining example of this approach. In just under a year, Nigeria unlocked over $8 billion in deepwater and gas Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) through decisive presidential action, focused on improved fiscal terms, streamlined contracting timelines, greater clarity to local content rules, and power sector reforms enabling gas-to-power commercial viability.
In her closing statement, she urged African investors, development finance institutions, banks, pension funds, and sovereigns to be decisive and strategic in focus. She also emphasized the need for African players to dominate the onshore, shelf, and domestic gas sectors since they possess the local knowledge necessary to navigate the risks and seize the opportunities.
Verheijen concluded by stating that Africa must transform itself into an investment destination through policies grounded in clarity, commercial logic, and strategic intent. "When we get that right," she asserted, "capital won't hesitate; it will pursue us. The future will not be given to Africa. It must be built, deliberately, unapologetically, and on our terms."
FYI
- Olu Verheijen's focus on indigenous control in the energy sector ties in with the Renaissance Africa Energy Consortium's recent acquisition of Shell's onshore JV[1].
- Verheijen's emphasis on encouraging domestic investment aligns with her call for African players to fill the void left by retreating International Oil Companies[2].
- Verheijen's recommendations for offering strong project economics and low carbon intensity echo the trends seen in global capital investments[1][2].
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- In her call for attracting investments to Africa's energy sector, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen, highlighted the importance of offering competitive policies that match the financial returns of areas like the Permian Basin, Guyana, and Brazil, such as strong economics, low carbon intensity, and predictable governance, to draw in the estimated $500 billion in global upstream spend annually.
- Notably, Verheijen pointed out Nigeria's success as a shining example of this approach, as it unlocked over $8 billion in deepwater and gas Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) through decisive presidential action andfocused on improved fiscal terms, streamlined contracting timelines, greater clarity to local content rules, and power sector reforms enabling gas-to-power commercial viability.
- In addition to attracting foreign investments, Verheijen also emphasized the need for African players to dominate the onshore, shelf, and domestic gas sectors, given their local knowledge necessary to navigate risks and seize opportunities, which she believes will help Africa transform itself into an investment destination through policies grounded in clarity, commercial logic, and strategic intent.
