Lead, Business Performance & JV Assets at NNPC Limited, Olamide Efosa-Austin, has called for greater mobilisation of domestic, institutional and international capital to finance Africa’s energy needs and support industrialisation across the continent.

Efosa-Austin made the call at the inaugural Africa Capital Week 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya, where policymakers, regulators, investors, capital-market operators and business leaders examined ways to deepen Africa’s capital markets and strengthen financing for economic development.

Speaking at the Capital for Renewable Energy & Climate Change session, Efosa-Austin said Africa’s energy transition required an integrated financing approach that recognised the continent’s need for energy security, industrial growth, job creation and economic development.

She argued that Africa should not approach the energy transition as a choice between conventional and renewable energy sources, stressing that the continent requires financing strategies capable of supporting its broader development needs.

“Africa does not have the luxury of an either/or energy transition,” she said.

According to her, the continent must increase its ability to mobilise capital from domestic and institutional sources while continuing to attract international investment into energy projects.

She also stressed the need to increase Africa’s share of global energy financing, noting that capital deployed across the continent should translate into sustainable economic value.

Speaking on the broader capital-market challenge, Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr Emomotimi Agama, said stronger capital markets were essential to unlocking financing for Africa’s infrastructure and economic development.

Agama emphasised the need for greater collaboration among African capital markets and stronger investor confidence to facilitate the mobilisation of long-term capital for productive investments.

His position reinforced discussions at the forum on the difficulty of connecting Africa’s available capital with credible and investment-ready projects.

Stakeholders identified the development of bankable projects, stronger financial institutions, regulatory cooperation and investor confidence as key issues affecting the flow of capital into Africa’s infrastructure and energy sectors.

The forum, held under the theme, “Deepening Capital Markets to Advance Africa’s Economic Sovereignty,” also examined the role of capital markets in mobilising long-term financing for infrastructure and economic transformation.

A major outcome was the Nairobi Declaration 2026, which includes commitments on regulatory cooperation, greater integration of African securities exchanges, the development of an Africa Bankable Projects Pipeline and mobilisation of institutional capital for infrastructure.

The declaration seeks to address some of the structural challenges limiting the effective deployment of capital across African markets.

For the energy sector, the discussions reinforced the need for financing models that can accommodate Africa’s energy transition while addressing its existing infrastructure and industrialisation requirements.

Efosa-Austin’s intervention therefore placed energy financing within the wider question of how African economies can mobilise and retain sufficient capital to support productive investment, energy security and long-term economic growth.