Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has called on the international community to increase the availability of affordable capital to finance infrastructure and development across Africa.
Oyedele made the call while speaking at the United Nations Dialogue on Solutions to Climate Finance, held on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
He said Africa’s development ambitions, particularly in the energy sector, remain constrained by high financing costs, currency risks and limited access to affordable, long-term capital.
The Minister said that despite Africa’s relatively low contribution to global carbon emissions, African countries continue to face what he described as a “prejudice premium” and “narrative cost” when seeking financing for critical infrastructure.
He also identified currency risks and what he termed a “stereotype tax” as additional burdens affecting African countries’ ability to raise capital for energy and other development projects.
Oyedele called for a strategic shift in the approach to climate finance, urging simpler access to affordable funding for developing countries and financing arrangements that better reflect their development realities.
He also advocated increased investment in gas and other transition energy sources, particularly in Africa, to expand access to reliable and affordable electricity and help tackle global energy poverty.
According to him, greater investment in Africa’s energy sector could also diversify global energy supplies and reduce concentration risks, particularly amid disruptions affecting the Gulf region.
The Minister stressed that Africa’s energy transition must take into account the continent’s significant energy-access deficit. He said increased investment was needed to enable African countries to meet their development goals while pursuing a practical transition towards cleaner energy sources.
For Nigeria, Oyedele said the immediate priority was to develop and implement policies and programmes capable of reducing poverty, expanding economic opportunities and accelerating the distribution of shared prosperity.
He said achieving these objectives would require stronger international cooperation and a financing framework that allows developing countries to mobilise the capital needed to invest in infrastructure and improve the lives of their citizen
