Nigeria’s idle gas projects can leverage $53trn fund

In a world where funding for fossil fuel investment is waning, global Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) fund projected to hit $53 trillion by 2025 can present a system of autarky for over billion dollars’ worth of idle clean energy projects stranded across Nigeria.

Across the world, investors are now shifting attention from traditional funds to sustainable funds like ESG investing or strategies that consider a country’s environmental, social and governance ratings alongside traditional financial metrics.

For a country with proven gas deposits of 206.53 trillion cubic feet, most asset managers say the ESG initiative can be an escape path for many of Nigeria’s clearer energy projects, many of which are mired in obscurity due to paucity of funds.

They say the ESG initiative can breathe an air of fresh ideas to projects such as the $20 billion Brass LNG project in Bayelsa State; the $9.8 billion Olokola LNG in Ogun; the 5000km Nigeria-Morocco offshore gas pipeline, which in the current market price would cost an estimated $20 billion.

A report by Bloomberg shows ESG funds recorded the highest flows last year, and by 2025, ESG investing is projected to reach $53 trillion in assets. This equates to roughly a third of all investment assets under management.