West Africa could build a $3 trillion cumulative energy market by 2035 if countries in the region harmonise regulations, adopt common product specifications and data standards, modernise energy contracts, and invest in infrastructure, according to energy expert Mallam Suleiman Yahyah, Chairman of RHS Advisory Ltd.
Yahyah made the submission at the West Africa Refined Fuel Market Conference 2026 in Abuja while speaking on “Driving Infrastructure Growth through Strategic Regional Partnership.”
He said regional integration should enable a licensed energy operator in one West African country to operate and trade seamlessly in another. This, he argued, would require common standards, modern contracts, shared data systems, infrastructure and an effective regional dispute-resolution mechanism.
Liquidity, infrastructure key
Yahyah also called for the creation of a regional energy settlement facility, potentially backed by central banks and institutions such as the African Finance Corporation, African Development Bank and the proposed African Energy Bank.
He estimated that the facility could require about $3 billion, anchored in naira, stressing that liquidity would be essential to making a regional energy market efficient.
Beyond financing, he identified local talent, technology and global partnerships as critical. He urged African professionals to take leading roles in regulation, trading, market analysis and legal frameworks while partnering with global market-information and pricing platforms.
He further proposed a regional division of energy-market functions, with Abidjan serving as a commercial and logistics hub, Ghana focusing on balancing and storage, and Lagos functioning as an Atlantic hub for liquidity and refinancing.
Yahyah said infrastructure projects should ultimately be judged by whether they expand productive energy access.
“Every pipeline, refinery, interconnector or storage facility must answer one question: does it increase productive energy access for the people and businesses?”
He also advocated the use of artificial intelligence, measurable performance indicators and closer integration of West Africa’s gas, road and fiscal systems to enable the region to regulate nationally while conducting energy transactions regionally.
