The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Ogbe, has said that effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the oil and gas industry will be critical to unlocking Africa’s energy future and building a globally competitive continental supply chain.

Ogbe spoke at the 2026 AfCFTA Summit hosted by the NCDMB in collaboration with the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) and Legal Concierge, with the theme “Unlocking Africa’s Energy Future through AfCFTA.” The summit brought together industry leaders, policymakers, investors, development partners, and energy professionals from across Africa and the global energy community.

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According to Ogbe, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which gave rise to AfCFTA, was conceived to promote regional integration through trade, innovation, and the free movement of people and capital, noting that the oil and gas sector has a central role to play in translating those objectives into tangible economic outcomes.

He said Nigeria’s oil and gas industry embraced AfCFTA early and, in 2022, developed a framework to domesticate the agreement within the sector. He explained that implementation of AfCFTA in the Nigerian oil and gas industry has been anchored on three key pillars: opportunity identification, capacity development, and capacity exportation.

Ogbe said Nigeria’s comparative advantage lies in its strong oil and gas supply chain, which includes a robust oilfield services sector, growing refining capacity, established oilfield logistics bases, an expanding gas pipeline network, and a large pool of skilled technical manpower.

He added that through the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, the country has built significant capabilities across the value chain, including marine vessel ownership, fabrication, assembly, and installation of production systems such as Christmas trees, pressure vessels, pumps, and other critical equipment.

According to him, the next phase is capacity exportation, which he described as the main focus of the summit. He said AfCFTA must create practical pathways that allow Nigerian-manufactured products and services to access markets across the continent under preferential trade terms.

Ogbe raised questions around how cables produced in Nigeria can benefit from AfCFTA preferences in markets such as Angola, the compliance requirements for Nigerian sacrificial anode manufacturers to meet rules of origin when exporting to countries like Algeria, and how facilities such as the Tema Shipyard in Ghana can be positioned as continental hubs for vessel construction, assembly, and repairs.

He also highlighted the need for a unified work permit and visa regime that would allow skilled professionals, including welders and fabricators, to work seamlessly across African borders. He said such mobility would support cross-border fabrication and manufacturing projects and strengthen regional value chains.

Ogbe noted that AfCFTA’s market of 1.4 billion people and an estimated $3 trillion economy presents an opportunity for Africa to shift from fragmented national markets to an integrated and globally competitive supply chain system.

He said that while expanded refining capacity such as the Dangote Refinery, the development of continental gas transmission pipelines, and the establishment of industrial parks are critical, additional policy, financial, and regulatory support is required to achieve energy security and self-sufficiency for the continent.

Ogbe also said Africa must leverage its vast mineral resources, including copper, iron ore, and petrochemicals, to support domestic manufacturing of oil and gas equipment such as Christmas trees, rather than continuing to export raw materials and import finished products.

He said the summit was structured to mobilise regulatory agencies, project promoters, financial institutions, and academia to deepen collaboration on intra-African trade opportunities, advance discussions on unified standards for professional qualifications, services, and manufactured goods, expand technology development and innovation, and improve measurement of AfCFTA’s impact on Africa’s balance of trade.

Ogbe expressed confidence that the calibre of participants at the summit would generate practical insights to guide the effective implementation of AfCFTA in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and support broader regional integration and shared economic prosperity across Africa.