Resilient Power Grids Critical to Nigeria’s Energy Security – Minister
Tegbe made the call on Tuesday while delivering a keynote address at the opening plenary of the Middle East Energy 2026 Leadership Summit in Dubai, according to a statement by his media aide, Adeola Labzy.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Energy Security and the Effect of Geopolitics’, at the 50th edition of the summit, the minister said the changing global energy landscape had made resilient electricity infrastructure increasingly important to national and international security.
He said energy security should no longer be viewed solely through the availability of oil and gas reserves, but should encompass the resilience of the wider energy system, including electricity grids, critical mineral supply chains, capital and institutions.
According to him, ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply to homes, hospitals and industries during geopolitical and economic disruptions must be treated as a strategic priority.
Tegbe said Nigeria’s ongoing power sector reforms were designed to provide the certainty needed to attract long-term investment, highlighting regulatory stability, respect for contracts and reliable offtake arrangements as critical to the success of the reforms.
He identified diversification as an important form of strategic protection, while stressing that grid resilience and electricity affordability should be treated as core components of energy security.
The minister also advocated an orderly and equitable global energy transition that recognises the different economic and developmental circumstances of individual countries.
Tegbe pointed to Nigeria’s more than 200 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and its long record of supplying liquefied natural gas to markets in Europe and Asia, saying the country had an important role to play in global energy security.
He described the Electricity Act 2023 as the most significant reform of Nigeria’s power sector in a generation, noting that it ended the Federal Government’s longstanding monopoly and paved the way for 37 emerging electricity markets across the country.
Tegbe said the reforms were being implemented under the administration of President Bola Tinubu and could offer useful lessons to other developing economies seeking to strengthen their energy systems.
“Capital does not flee risk; it flees uncertainty. Investors will price risk all day long; what they cannot price is a rule that changes after the contract is signed,” he said.
He said Africa’s estimated 600 million people without access to electricity, alongside its mineral resources, abundant solar potential, youthful population and rapidly rising energy demand, placed the continent at the centre of global energy geopolitics.
Tegbe called for partnerships that would move beyond the extraction of raw materials to include local processing, manufacturing, skills development and long-term investment.
He said Nigeria was committed to developing its energy infrastructure and urged international investors and partners to join the country and other African nations in building sustainable power systems.
The minister is expected to hold further engagements in Dubai during the week, including a ministerial fireside session on financing Africa’s power future under the summit’s Africa Spotlight programme.
