From Kingsley Jeremiah, Abuja 

To recapitalise 1,084 national banks, financial institutions 
African leaders have been asked to consider unlocking the continent’s estimated $250 billion pension fund assets to finance critical oil and gas projects. 
  
The continent was also urged to recapitalise the region’s over 1,000 financial institutions and national development banks to ensure their fund are kept in foreign countries finance energy infrastructure, which requires $200 billion yearly.
  
Speaking at the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) Week Conference in Cape Town, Founder & Managing Partner, Premier Investment Solutions, Rene Awambeng, said the move would not only bridge the sector’s growing financing gap but also drive broader national development goals.  He noted that Nigeria’s success with a $300 million diaspora bond showed that the model could be tapped into. 
  
Awembeng stressed the urgent need to mobilise domestic financial resources to fund Africa’s energy infrastructure at a time when traditional international financiers, including major Western banks, reduce their exposure to fossil fuel projects due to climate policies, leaving African nations scrambling for alternative funding sources.
  
Beyond energy security, he insisted that redirecting pension funds into oil and gas infrastructure was a strategic move to accelerate national development. 
  
“We cannot continue relying on foreign capital that comes with conditions that do not align with our long-term development goals. Africa must take charge of its development, and our pension funds provide a viable path to achieving this,” Awembeng said. 
  
According to him, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, Botswana and Namibia collectively control a significant portion of Africa’s pension fund reserves, but restrictive regulations and risk-averse investment strategies have historically prevented these funds from being channelled into large-scale infrastructure projects.  He called for regulatory reforms to allow pension funds to be deployed in ways that directly support national economic objectives.
  
Alongside pension funds, he lamented that Africa’s financial sector remained underutilised. With 84 national development banks and over 1,000 financial institutions, Awenbeng expressed worry that many of the entities lacked the coordination and capitalisation needed to drive large-scale infrastructure financing.
  
Global Head, Energy & Infrastructure at Standard Bank Group, Dele Kuti, emphasised the need for financial discipline in project funding, stressing that strong equity contributions, realistic payback periods, and robust risk management were critical. 
  
Kuti stressed that funding timelines must align with project expectations, adding, “I don’t want to see funding take two and a half times longer than planned. Financial viability must be clear well before the eighth year.”