The Pan African Parliament (PAP) has commended Nigeria for its remarkable and historic turnaround in the petroleum sector, describing the country’s upstream reforms as a benchmark for the continent.
At the conclusion of a fourteen-day special syndicate meeting of West African parliamentarians held in Johannesburg to deliberate on African resource management and the urgent need for a continental model law, PAP members declared Nigeria’s faithful implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 the practical template that other African oil-producing nations should emulate.
The meeting resolved to fast-track the drafting of a Model Law on Natural Resource Governance, with Nigeria’s transparent, predictable and investment-friendly licensing regime repeatedly cited as the central reference point.
At the centre of the continent’s admiration is Nigeria’s dramatic production rebound. Official figures confirm the country has repeatedly surpassed 1.7 million barrels per day in 2025, decisively ending a decade of stagnation caused by security challenges, operational setbacks and chronic investor hesitation.
Nigeria now stands firmly on course to achieve its long-standing target of 2.5 million barrels per day by 2026. A near-70 rig count recorded this year—the highest in almost a decade—with more than forty rigs still active, reflects the strongest upstream drilling activity in years and unmistakable evidence that global investor sentiment has turned decisively in Nigeria’s favour.
This transformation has been powered by multi-billion-dollar Final Investment Decisions, the approval of Field Development Plans worth approximately twenty billion dollars in the past ten months, and rigorous enforcement of the PIA’s “drill or drop” provisions, which have seen idle and fallow discoveries systematically recovered and prepared for immediate reallocation to serious developers.
Nigeria has also replaced irregular and opaque bid rounds with annual licensing cycles, delivering the regulatory predictability investors have long demanded.
The 2025 licensing round, opening on 1 December, is already regarded as one of the most strategically important since the PIA was enacted in 2021.
Built on the fully digital, transparent and livestreamed platform that won universal acclaim in 2024, the exercise will offer around twenty-four blocks across onshore, shallow-water and deep-offshore terrains, with a deliberate emphasis on natural gas alongside crude oil in line with Nigeria’s energy-transition commitments and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Massamba Dieng of Senegal told journalists at the close of the meeting: “What Nigeria has achieved in less than five years is nothing short of revolutionary for Africa.
“The disciplined enforcement of ‘drill or drop’, the return to annual licensing rounds conducted on a fully digital and transparent platform, and the recovery of billions of barrels in stranded assets have turned Nigeria into the continent’s most attractive upstream destination.
“We in Senegal and across West Africa intend to borrow heavily from this model as we craft our own reforms.”
Hon. Salifu Jawo, Gambian member of the Pan African Parliament, added: “Nigeria’s leadership extends beyond its borders through its chairmanship of the African Petroleum Regulators Forum under Engr. Gbenga Komolafe.
“The practical knowledge being shared through AFRIPERF is already helping smaller producers design better regulatory frameworks. The combination of political will, legislative clarity in the PIA, and courageous regulatory execution has given Africa a success story we can all replicate.
“This is why the Model Law we are drafting will be built largely on Nigeria’s experience.”
Adding further weight to Nigeria’s continental influence is its current presidency of the African Petroleum Regulators Forum (AFRIPERF), held by Engr. Gbenga Komolafe.
Parliamentarians noted that Nigeria’s bold reforms are being actively disseminated across the continent through AFRIPERF platforms, offering practical guidance to regulators seeking to attract investment and maximise resource value.
As the Pan African Parliament prepares to adopt a continent-wide Model Law on Resource Management, members unanimously agreed that Nigeria’s journey—from near-collapse to renewed vigour under the transformative framework of the Petroleum Industry Act and its exemplary leadership of AFRIPERF—will serve as the cornerstone of that historic legislation.