MDGIF: NMDPRA pledges to unlock $10bn in investments

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has set a target of unlocking up to $10 billion in additional investment in Nigeria’s gas sector through the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF).

The NMDPRA Chief Executive Officer, Rabiu Abdullahi Umar, disclosed this on Wednesday during a panel session at the 2026 Gastech Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.

Umar said the MDGIF was designed to use government-backed equity and seed capital to de-risk gas projects and attract greater private-sector investment into the industry.

“We have a fund which is called the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, and that fund is designed to de-risk projects. So we put in equity,” he said.

He explained that the $10 billion target represented the additional investment the fund hoped to unlock through its initial financing rather than the amount already invested by the government.

“The $10 billion is the target to say, can we reach a point where we unlock investment in that space of up to $10 billion? That is the kind of trajectory that we’re looking at in terms of deepening investment in gas,” Umar said.

The NMDPRA chief said the fund had already deployed about $300 million to de-risk projects and was supporting investments across different segments of the gas value chain, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), floating LNG, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG).

The latest target comes after the MDGIF reported in May that it had committed more than N430 billion to gas infrastructure projects across Nigeria and had catalysed about N1.6 trillion in total investment. At the time, the fund said it had invested in 31 gas infrastructure projects comprising 125 facilities.

The MDGIF’s investment has also supported the rollout of CNG infrastructure, including projects commissioned across Lagos, Abuja and Owerri in May 2026. The Presidential commissioning included a CNG mother station at Ojota, Lagos, as well as other gas infrastructure projects.

Umar said further expansion of the sector would require adequate infrastructure, predictable regulation and continued government intervention in projects where public support was necessary to attract private capital.

He identified infrastructure development and regulatory certainty as key conditions for attracting investment into Nigeria’s gas industry, noting that investors would require confidence in the regulatory framework before committing capital.

The NMDPRA chief also pointed to major gas infrastructure projects, including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline and the proposed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, as part of efforts to expand gas transportation and open new markets.

He said Nigeria’s gas strategy was centred on ensuring adequate gas availability, affordability and infrastructure, noting that the country has more than 210 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

The latest target builds on the MDGIF’s earlier efforts to use public capital to attract private investment into gas infrastructure. In November 2025, NMDPRA said the fund had committed more than N287 billion to 62 projects involving 16 companies and had catalysed an additional $500 million through its partnership with Afreximbank.

Umar said the authority would continue to pursue an investment framework capable of expanding gas infrastructure and supporting increased domestic and regional gas utilisation.