West Africa needs a regional settlement facility of about $3 billion to build a more integrated energy market and unlock what could become a $3 trillion cumulative market by 2035, according to RHG Advisory Chairman Suleiman Yahyah.
Speaking at the West African Refined Fuel Market Conference in Abuja, Yahyah said the region should move away from isolated national energy projects toward a connected market system.
He proposed a model in which countries retain national regulatory authority while allowing energy transactions to operate more freely across borders.
The approach would require harmonised regulations, common product standards, shared data systems, modern contracts, connected infrastructure and a regional dispute resolution mechanism.
Yahyah identified liquidity as one of the biggest obstacles.
He suggested that central banks, African development institutions, sovereign wealth funds and the African Energy Bank should work together to create a settlement facility anchored initially in naira.
The system could build on the Pan African Payment and Settlement System and eventually accommodate wider regional currency arrangements.
Yahyah said financial liquidity alone would not be enough.
He described skilled professionals as critical infrastructure and called for stronger regional capacity in regulation, trading, analysis, law and market development.
He also encouraged partnerships with established global data and market institutions rather than attempting to recreate every system from the beginning.
Yahyah said the success of regional integration should ultimately be measured by affordability, reliability, clean cooking access, industrial productivity, jobs and reduced energy poverty.
He argued that combining African capital with international expertise could accelerate the creation of a functioning regional energy market.
