More than 150 essential oil and gas projects have stalled across Africa amid declining investment in the continent’s energy sector, Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), Adegbite Falade, has disclosed.

He made the disclosure in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday, at the Africa Oil Week (AOW) 2026.

Falade cautioned that the investment shortfall was occurring at a critical time when millions of Africans remain without reliable access to energy.

He said the stalled projects posed a threat to jobs, energy security and economic transformation, while depriving African economies of billions of dollars in potential revenue and industrialisation opportunities.

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According to him, Africa attracted only about two per cent of global renewable energy investment last year, even as capital continues to elude its oil and gas industry.

Falade said the situation was particularly troubling given the continent’s vast hydrocarbon resources, with 125 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 620 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves.

“Africa is resource rich and energy poor. The continent has 125 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 620 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas,” he said.

He also highlighted what he described as an imbalance in the global climate debate, noting that Africa accounts for approximately 18 per cent of the world’s population but less than four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

“This capital retreat comes at a precarious moment for a continent faced with energy poverty despite accounting for less than three per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions,” Falade said.

The IPPG chairman called on African governments to urgently restore investor confidence by providing stable fiscal terms, de-risking projects and accelerating regulatory approvals to bring the stalled developments back on stream.

He also advocated greater participation by indigenous operators, citing Nigeria’s experience as evidence of what deliberate policies and access to capital could achieve.

He noted that three decades ago, indigenous operators in Nigeria had three per cent of participation in the country’s oil and gas industry and the significant growth achieved since then.

Falade urged African countries to pursue an energy transition that takes account of the continent’s development needs, arguing that cleaner energy deployment should not prevent countries from using their abundant natural gas resources to address energy poverty.

“We can pursue cleaner energy while still using our gas to power industries, homes, and businesses across the continent,” he said.

He therefore called for increased investment and faster development of Africa’s oil and gas resources, stressing that the continent must leverage its natural wealth to expand energy access, create jobs and drive economic transformation.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP) has secured an order of the Federal High Court Lagos, restraining the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) from enforcing its directive suspending the loading and truck-out of petroleum products at the refinery.

Justice Akintayo Aluko issued the interim injunction on Monday in a fresh legal battle between the refinery and the petroleum regulator over NMDPRA’s regulatory powers within the free zone where the refinery operates.

The court also restrained NMDPRA, its officers, agents, and representatives from entering, sealing, shutting down, restricting access to, obstructing, suspending, disrupting, inspecting, supervising, sanctioning or otherwise interfering with Dangote Refinery’s operations at the Lekki Free Zone pending the determination of the refinery’s motion on notice.

The order followed an ex-parte application filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE in suit No. FHC/L/CS/1174/2026.

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The refinery is challenging NMDPRA’s August 24, 2026 directive suspending the loading and truck-out of petroleum products from its facilities.

Dangote’s application was argued by a legal team led by Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), Olawale Akoni and Abimbola Akeredolu.

Moving the application, Akeredolu urged the court to grant the reliefs sought, relying on a 42-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Wale Aroge, a written address, and documentary exhibits marked A1 to A6.

In his ruling, Aluko held that the materials placed before the court raised serious issues requiring determination, particularly whether NMDPRA possessed regulatory or oversight powers over operations within free zones.

The judge stated that Dangote’s case was that NMDPRA lacked regulatory powers capable of affecting operations within free zones, including the Dangote Industrial Free Zone.

Aluko also referred to a March 2, 2026 letter written by the Attorney-General of the Federation, which, according to the judge, “clearly stated” that NMDPRA was not entitled to exercise regulatory powers or oversight functions over operations within free zones.

The judge said he had also considered NMDPRA’s August 24 letter through which the regulator purported to exercise such powers.

“The important question, therefore, is whether the defendant can or should be allowed to exercise such regulatory authority pending the determination of the substantive issues before the court,” Aluko held.

He said the depositions contained in paragraphs 17 to 32 of Dangote’s affidavit disclosed “serious issues for determination” and demonstrated an urgent need for judicial intervention.

According to the judge, the purpose of the application is to preserve the subject matter of the dispute pending the determination of the motion on notice.

“What the plaintiff has asked this court to do is to preserve the res pending the determination of the motion on notice,” he said.

Aluko further held that the court had an inherent power and duty to preserve the subject matter of litigation and prevent a situation in which it could be destroyed or altered before the substantive application was determined.

The judge said Dangote had satisfied the legal conditions required for the grant of an interim injunction.

He held, “The law is settled on the conditions which an applicant must satisfy to be entitled to an order of interim injunction. Those conditions have been considered and stated in this ruling, and I find that they have been satisfied in the present case.”

The court also took note of Dangote’s undertaking to indemnify NMDPRA in damages should it subsequently be established that the interim order ought not to have been granted.

“Accordingly, I find merit in the application, and the same is hereby granted in terms of the reliefs sought,” Aluko ruled.

The judge directed Dangote to file a formal undertaking as to damages and ordered that the interim order and notice of the court be served on NMDPRA.

The order effectively bars NMDPRA from implementing the August 24 directive or taking the specified enforcement measures against the refinery, pending the hearing of the motion on notice.

Aluko adjourned the suit till September 9, 2026 for hearing of the motion on notice.

The latest case is separate from another suit filed by Dangote Refinery challenging the issuance and renewal of fuel import licences to NNPC Limited and several petroleum marketers.

The earlier suit, marked FHC/L/CS/857/2026, came up before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on Monday but was adjourned until October 7 following the judge’s absence due to indisposition.

Dangote is challenging the issuance and renewal of the licences, contending that they were issued in breach of an earlier order made by the court on April 29 directing the parties to maintain the status quo as it existed on April 2, 2026.

The refinery is seeking, among other reliefs, an order setting aside the licences and restraining the Attorney-General of the Federation and relevant regulatory agencies from issuing or renewing import licences for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), and Jet A1 pending the determination of the suit.

Dangote contended that continued issuance of the licences undermined domestic refining and violated Section 317(9) of the Petroleum Industry Act, which it interpreted as permitting petroleum imports only where there was a proven shortfall in domestic supply.

The refinery, which has an installed capacity of approximately 650,000 barrels per day, maintains that it has sufficient capacity to meet Nigeria’s domestic refined petroleum product requirements.

It has relied on regulatory data which, according to the company, show that domestic production of petrol and diesel exceeds national consumption.

Dangote had argued that the refinery was established to meet Nigeria’s refined petroleum requirements, generate export surpluses, and support the development of a major market for Nigerian crude oil.

The NNPC Limited, however, urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the Petroleum Industry Act and Federal Government Backward Integration Policy do not impose a blanket prohibition on fuel imports.

The state-owned oil company maintained that petroleum imports remained permissible where necessary to guarantee national supply security.

The  NNPC Ltd also contended that the NMDPRA acted within its statutory powers in issuing the disputed licences, arguing that the law permits the licensing of companies with local refining capacity or an established track record in petroleum trading.

It further maintained that the PIA did not prohibit fuel imports except where there was a verified domestic supply surplus, arguing that imports remain a legitimate mechanism for maintaining product availability and stabilising prices.

An early-morning fire has ravaged Eda Plaza, a building materials market opposite Chida Hotel in Jabi, Abuja, destroying shops and goods reportedly worth millions of naira.

The inferno broke out around 3am on Sunday, leaving traders counting their losses after the fire spread through parts of the plaza.

An eyewitness told the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that the alarm was raised after his brother-in-law, who owns two shops and a packing store at the plaza, received a distress call from a colleague informing him that the market was on fire.

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“We were at home this morning, as early as 3 am, and my brother-in-law received a call from one of his colleagues here in the plaza that the plaza was on fire. So we had to rush down there. On getting here, we discovered that the situation was so bad,” the eyewitness said.

According to him, only one of his brother-in-law’s two shops survived the inferno, while the other shop and the packing store were completely destroyed.

“In this plaza, my brother-in-law had two shops and a packing store. Unfortunately, only one of the shops was saved. The other shop and the packing store were totally damaged by the fire,” he added.

The eyewitness estimated the value of roofing materials lost in the blaze at more than N20 million, revealing that some of the affected materials had been restocked just hours before the fire.

“Over here, you see some of the roofs that we still have here. We are talking about a roof that is worth over N20 million lost in this fire,” he said.

He further lamented that some of the roofing materials had only been restocked the previous night.

“Because the other shop, we had roofs that were just restocked last night. And then the packing store also, we had roofs that were just restocked last night,” he said.

Confirming the incident, the National Public Relations Officer and Head of Corporate Services of the Federal Fire Service, Deputy Controller of Fire Paul Abraham, said a distress call about the Eda Plaza fire was received at 2:46am.

Abraham said the Federal Fire Service, in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory Fire Service, deployed firefighting appliances from its Wuse, Interior Ministry and Garki stations to battle the inferno.

He disclosed that a stop message was issued at 10:14am, indicating that the fire had been brought under control.

The Federal Fire Service spokesman added that investigations were ongoing to determine the remote and immediate causes of the fire.

Despite the extent of the destruction and the financial losses recorded, no casualty was reported.

The eyewitness expressed gratitude that the incident did not claim any life.
“In our situation, we give thanks to God that no life was lost in this situation,” he said.