Tinubu Approves Targeted Incentives to Fast-Track Shell’s Bonga South West Deep-Offshore Project
President Bola Tinubu has approved the gazetting of targeted, investment-linked incentives aimed at accelerating new capital inflows, job creation and foreign-exchange earnings from Shell’s proposed Bonga South West deep-offshore oil project, as well as other similar large-scale developments in Nigeria’s energy sector.
The approval followed a high-level meeting between the President and a Shell delegation led by its Global Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wael Sawan, at the State House, Abuja. President Tinubu also directed his Special Adviser on Energy, Mrs. Olu Verheijen, to facilitate the immediate gazette of the incentives in line with Nigeria’s existing legal and fiscal frameworks.
According to the President, the incentives are carefully structured to be disciplined, ring-fenced and globally competitive, with a strong focus on attracting new investments and boosting incremental production without undermining government revenues.
“These incentives are not blanket concessions,” Tinubu said in a statement. “They are ring-fenced and investment-linked, focused on new capital and incremental production, strong local content delivery, and in-country value addition.”
The President described the Bonga South West project as strategically important to Nigeria’s economy, with the capacity to generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs, strengthen foreign-exchange inflows and deliver sustained revenue to government over the project’s lifecycle. He added that the development would further deepen Nigerian participation in offshore engineering, fabrication, logistics and energy services.
Tinubu also set a clear timeline expectation, stating that the Bonga South West project must reach Final Investment Decision (FID) within the first term of his administration.
Reaffirming his administration’s commitment to policy stability and regulatory certainty, the President said speed, consistency and credibility in reforms are essential to restoring investor confidence and positioning Nigeria as a preferred destination for large-scale energy investments.
He further disclosed that Shell and its partners have invested nearly $7 billion in Nigeria over the past 13 months, particularly in the Bonga North and HI projects, describing the investments as evidence that Nigeria’s ongoing economic and energy-sector reforms are yielding tangible results.
In his remarks, Shell CEO Wael Sawan said Nigeria’s investment climate has improved significantly under the Tinubu administration, adding that Shell is increasingly confident in the country as a destination for long-term capital deployment.
The Shell delegation included senior executives from the company’s global and Nigerian leadership teams.
The approval of the targeted incentives is expected to accelerate deep-offshore developments, reinforce Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global energy market, and strengthen its drive to attract fresh capital, expand production and maximise value from its hydrocarbon resources.
