LAGOS – Africa’s upstream oil and gas capital expenditure plummeted 45.6% to $37 billion in 2025 from $68 billion in 2016, driven by a sharp contraction in mature asset developments.
This was revealed by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its World Energy Investment 2026 report, which noted that five key producers: Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Egypt, and Libya—account for 70% of continental investment.
Combined capital allocation across these five dominant nations halved from $50 billion in 2016 to $25 billion in 2025, despite broader exploration expenditure reaching $6.5 billion in 2025.
Conversely, capital directed toward emerging producers such as Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, and Uganda grew from $1.5 billion in 2016 to $5 billion in 2025, favoring capital-intensive deepwater and gas projects.
Recently, the agency projects sub-Saharan upstream spending to rebound 12% to nearly $24 billion in 2026, led by offshore investments and deepwater developments in Nigeria.
Total energy spending across Africa is forecast to reach $110 billion in 2026, representing just 3.3% of global energy capital despite the continent housing 20% of the world’s population.
