By Danjuma Amodu
Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for urgent policy reforms, stronger public-private partnerships and innovative risk-sharing mechanisms to attract domestic and foreign investment into Nigeria’s green infrastructure, saying the country requires about $410 billion in additional investment by 2060 to achieve its net-zero pathway.
Shettima made the call on Tuesday at the second edition of the Decarbonising Infrastructure in Nigeria, DIN, Summit in Abuja, where policymakers, development finance institutions, private investors, members of the diplomatic corps and climate experts examined ways of closing the huge financing gap confronting the transition.
Represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, the Vice President said the scale of funding required presented not only a challenge but also a significant investment opportunity.
“Our Energy Transition Plan estimates that Nigeria will require about $410 billion in additional investment above business-as-usual through 2060 to achieve its net-zero pathway. That is a significant financing requirement. But it also tells us something else: there is a very large investment opportunity ahead of us,” Shettima said.
He stressed that while government would remain an important player, it could not provide all the capital required.
“We need the private sector. We need development finance institutions. We need domestic financial institutions and institutional investors. And, perhaps most importantly, we need projects that are properly prepared and capable of attracting that capital,” he said.
The summit, held at the United Nations House in Abuja, was organised by the Office of the Vice President with support from the National Council on Climate Change and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, UNIDO.
It was themed, “De-risking Green Infrastructure Investment in Nigeria: Enabling Policy, Project Readiness and Risk-Sharing Solutions.”
Shettima said the central issue was no longer simply the availability of ideas, policies or climate ambitions, but the ability to convert them into projects that investors could assess, finance and implement.
He identified the practical questions investors ask before committing capital — whether the policy environment is clear, whether the revenue model is credible, whether technical issues have been adequately addressed and how risks would be allocated.
“These are practical questions. And I believe that is where DIN Summit 2.0 can make a useful contribution,” he said.
He acknowledged that green infrastructure faces policy, financial, technical and institutional challenges, but said they could be addressed through collaboration. He noted that Nigeria’s NDC 3.0 recognised the need to develop a stronger pipeline of bankable projects, increase private-sector participation and improve access to climate finance.
The Presidency also pointed to continental efforts, citing the African Development Bank’s Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa, which is seeking to mobilise $500 million in early-stage blended finance to catalyse larger investments.
The Personal Assistant to the President on Subnational Infrastructure, Mr Musaddiq Adamu, who welcomed participants on behalf of the DIN Summit Steering Committee, said the summit was designed to answer a practical question: what would it take to move green infrastructure projects from ideas to investment?
Adamu said the DIN initiative had evolved considerably since its first edition, with pre-summit workshops across energy, transport, urban development and agriculture.
He recalled that last year’s summit attracted more than 400 stakeholders and resulted in the launch of the first DIN State Summit Report, while engagements between developers and investors had already produced tangible outcomes.
One such outcome, he said, followed a presentation by APM Terminals on the electrification of port operations.
According to him, the engagement subsequently contributed to a $60 million agreement with the Nigerian Ports Authority to advance port electrification, with Onne Port positioned to become Nigeria’s first green port.
“For me, that is an important lesson. The objective is not simply to have a good conversation. The goal is to create real investment opportunity,” Adamu said.
The financing challenge was further highlighted by the UNIDO Sub-Regional Representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Philbert Abaka Johnson, who said Nigeria’s physical infrastructure investment needs were estimated at approximately $3 trillion by 2050.
Johnson said tracked climate finance flows into Nigeria averaged only $2.5 billion annually in 2021 and 2022, compared with estimated annual requirements of $29.7 billion, leaving an annual gap of about $27.2 billion.
He identified policy and regulatory uncertainty, fragmented approval processes, unclear institutional mandates and undefined revenue or offtake arrangements among factors preventing otherwise credible projects from attracting financing.
“These projects sit at very different stages of maturity, from concepts which require feasibility work to projects ready to seek finance,” he said.
He said UNIDO would deploy its Computer Model for Feasibility Analysis and Reporting, COMFAR, software and Digital Investment Promotion Platform to support project development, tools already used by over 11,000 practitioners across 160 countries.
Johnson said UNIDO’s support for Nigeria’s industrial transformation was anchored on its Programme for Country Partnership, PCP, 2024-2028, signed in Abuja in April 2025 and valued at approximately $175 million.
The programme covers industrial policy and strategic governance, start-ups and enterprise development, special economic zones and industrial parks, agricultural and mineral value chains, sustainable energy and environmental management, as well as trade capacity building under the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA.
He called for operationalisation of the Climate Change Act and sanctity of power purchase agreements to unlock carbon finance.
The Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change, Mrs Tenioye Majekodunmi, who participated virtually, said green infrastructure had the capacity to create more than 300,000 jobs.
Stakeholders also called for standardised public-private partnership agreement templates and dedicated early-stage project development funding to create a pipeline of bankable projects in mini-grids, clean transportation and green buildings.
