Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has called for a major expansion of affordable, long-term financing for infrastructure and development projects across Africa.
Oyedele made the call while addressing the United Nations Dialogue on Solutions to Climate Finance on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to a statement by the Director of Press Relations in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Efe Ovuakporie, the minister said Africa’s development ambitions, particularly in the energy sector, were being constrained by high financing costs, currency risks and limited access to affordable long-term capital.
Oyedele said despite Africa’s relatively low contribution to global carbon emissions, the continent continued to face what he described as a “prejudice premium” and “narrative cost” when seeking financing for critical infrastructure.
He also identified currency risk and what he termed “stereotype tax” as additional burdens confronting African countries in raising capital for energy and other development projects.
The minister called for a strategic shift in the approach to climate finance, urging the international community to simplify access to affordable capital for developing countries and adopt financing arrangements that reflect their development realities.
He also urged increased investment in gas and other transition energy sources, particularly in Africa, to expand access to reliable and affordable electricity and help address global energy poverty.
According to him, greater investment in Africa’s energy sector would diversify global energy supplies and reduce concentration risks, particularly amid disruptions affecting the Gulf region.
Oyedele stressed that Africa’s energy transition must take into account the continent’s significant energy-access deficit, saying increased investment was needed to enable African countries to meet development needs while pursuing a practical transition to cleaner energy sources.
For Nigeria, he said the immediate priority was to implement policies and programmes that would reduce poverty, expand economic opportunities and accelerate the distribution of shared prosperity.
He said achieving these objectives would require stronger international cooperation and a financing framework capable of enabling developing countries to mobilise the capital needed to invest in infrastructure and improve the lives of their people.
