Trending 
Nigeria has formalised its partnership with the International Energy Agency, signing a Joint Work Programme that officials said would strengthen energy policy and investment while providing the country with access to global expertise.
Vice President Kashim Shettima described Nigeria’s admission to the Paris-based organisation as a significant milestone that validates the policy direction of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“Nigeria’s admission as an association country with the IEA is a significant milestone for our country and it reflects Nigeria’s strategic importance in the global energy landscape and the confidence that IEA has placed in our commitment to constructive international energy cooperation,” Shettima said during Thursday’s signing ceremony in Abuja.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol disclosed that the agency’s Governing Board, composed of the United States, Japan, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, had unanimously approved Nigeria’s membership following discussions with Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ekperikpe Ekpo.
Birol said the IEA would accompany Nigeria’s energy sector in the coming years, providing policy advice and training for Nigerian experts.
“The IEA will accompany the Nigerian energy sector for the next few years to come for a much better energy future,” Birol said.
“We will provide policy advice from clean cooking to gas markets, from gas markets to training Nigerian experts at the IEA on our own,” he assured.
Shettima said Nigeria would benefit from the IEA’s institutional knowledge and expertise to support its energy ambitions.
Given Nigeria’s potential, “the country will benefit from IEA’s institutional knowledge, the intellectual resources, the reach and expertise to support our nation’s ambitions in this sector,” he said.
Ekpo said Nigeria’s admission reflected the performance of the Tinubu administration and the reforms undertaken in the economy.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Sola Enikanoaiye described the partnership as strategically important and pledged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ commitment to supporting the process.
“We take this as a critical component of our national interest, and we will not fail in ensuring that we assist, as facilitators and coordinators, in ensuring that the maximum benefit of this endeavour is derived for the benefit of the Nigerian people.”
