Fostering actionable steps for greater indigenous participation in Africa’s energy industry

An Energy Leadership Forum that looks set to be a highlight of Africa Energy Week will go beyond the usual industry discourse as it focuses on creating actionable strategies towards a more robust, efficient, and sustainable energy industry, say Tominiyi Owolabi and Damilola Salawu of forum hosts Olaniwun Ajayi LP. 

“The OA Energy Leadership Forum is more than just an opportunity to engage in positive course-changing conversations,” says Salawu, a partner in the leading African firm’s Oil & Gas, and Technology, Innovation, and Fintech practices. 

“I look forward to engaging with individuals and institutions poised as action drivers in charting a new pathway or improving the pathway for indigenous participation in the Nigerian oil and gas industry,” says Salawu, who will moderate a session on “Financing Success: Innovation, and Scalable Growth Models”, where a panel of leading experts will discuss innovative financing, the role of digital tools in improving efficiency, and how indigenous firms can unlock capital and drive growth. 

Dr Owolabi, the Managing Partner of Olaniwun Ajayi, has advised on large and complex project finance and energy projects for two decades, says Nigeria’s increasing indigenous capacity - as seen in a number of divestment deals - is a key step towards energy security, and something he’d love to see more of across Africa. 

“As an African law firm with a global reach, and having been involved with a number of indigenous companies, indigenous capacity inevitably equates skills and technology transfer, jobs creation, capital retention, and ultimately, a positive impact.”

While Nigeria is Africa’s leading oil and gas nation, and one of the world’s largest oil producers (with a daily average of more than 1.5 million barrels per day, as of July 2025), to ensure it continues to flourish in “an interesting era of divestments by international oil companies”, it has become critical, says Salawu, to accelerate conversations and actions towards building and maintaining indigenous capacity.

“Indigenous capacity translates to the transfer of expertise and technology, energy sustainability, increased economic opportunities and growth.”

Key challenges for indigenous capacity in this evolving era, say Owolabi and Salawu, include access to finance, infrastructure deficit, and host community engagements.

These challenges will be “unpacked and addressed” during the inaugural Energy Leadership Forum, "Beyond Divestments: Unleashing Indigenous Capacity to Drive Nigeria’s Upstream Growth", a strategic, half-day event on 1 October in Cape Town.

Among the challenges, however, a number of opportunities are already growing. 

“In relation to gas investments, we have seen a number of gas projects such as the commissioning of the ANOH gas processing plant, and the provision by the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 for a Midstream and Downstream Gas Industry Fund which when fully operationalized, will further unlock investment opportunities in gas, refinery investments,” says Dr Owolabi, who at the Energy Leadership Forum will host a fireside chat event with Aradel CEO Adegbite Falade, addressing “Scaling with Purpose: Reflections from the Frontline of Africa’s Energy Transition”. 

Salawu also points to over $16 billion of investments in the Nigerian oil and gas industry in the last two years, and the launch of the Africa Energy Bank as a key opportunity that is expected to ease capital restraints and foster upstream growth.

Both Owolabi and Salawu are excited about next week’s Energy Leadership Forum, and the future impact of indigenous capacity to drive growth on the continent, particularly when it is coupled with growing regional collaboration and cooperation.

Olaniwun Ajayi LP and Africa Legal look forward to bringing together leading energy executives, policymakers, investors and development partners as part of Nigeria Independence Day celebrations. The Energy Leadership Forum is free for senior energy CEOs, CFOs, General Counsel, and board-level executives- ensuring the continent’s key decision-makers can connect and shape the conversations that matter most. Places are limited, to request an invitation, visit here.