Oil & Gas
By Anthony Isibor
THE Nigeria International Energy Summit, NIES, is set to enter a new phase in 2027, with the organisers expanding the platform beyond Nigeria’s traditional oil and gas conversation to focus on how Africa can secure energy, attract investment and use its resources to drive industrial development.
The 2027 edition of the summit is scheduled to take place in Abuja from March 15 to 18 under the theme, “Energy Sovereignty in Action: Driving Investment, Industrialization and Security.”
The organisers said that the latest edition would mark the beginning of a broader continental platform following a decade of N.I.E.S. bringing together policymakers, investors and energy industry executives.
Under the new direction, the summit is expected to evolve into the Africa Oil, Gas, Power & Energy Assembly, positioning it as a platform for discussions around the continent’s wider energy economy.
The shift comes as African countries face the challenge of attracting the capital required to develop energy infrastructure while also responding to changes in the global energy system.
The organisers said that the central question for the 2027 gathering would be how Africa can translate its energy resources and opportunities into investment, industrial capacity and greater energy security.
The organisers said that N.I.E.S. had, over its first 10 years, operated at the intersection of policy, capital and project execution.
Its next phase, they said, would seek to bring those elements even closer together by creating a platform where policy decisions can connect with investment and project development.
The summit is therefore expected to bring together stakeholders involved in the entire energy value chain rather than focusing solely on the upstream oil and gas industry.
Among the guests targeted are heads of state, ministers and regulators, international oil companies, national oil companies and independent producers.
Power and utility executives, sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, multilateral development institutions, industrial conglomerates, manufacturers, EPC contractors and infrastructure developers are also expected to form part of the gathering.
Other groups identified by the organisers include maritime and logistics companies, energy security leaders and technology and digital energy innovators.
The composition is intended to reflect the changing structure of Africa’s energy industry, where oil and gas increasingly intersects with power, renewable energy, technology, infrastructure, manufacturing and energy security.
The choice of energy sovereignty as the theme for the 2027 summit places greater emphasis on Africa’s ability to determine its own energy future, while remaining connected to global markets and investment.
The organisers said that the summit would examine ways to attract capital, develop infrastructure, expand industrial capacity and strengthen energy security.
Rather than treating energy as an isolated sector, the programme is expected to examine its role in wider economic development.
For investors, the organisers said that the summit would provide access to what they described as one of the world’s remaining major growth frontiers in energy.
For governments, it is expected to provide an opportunity to align policy with capital and accelerate development, while industry participants would have access to Africa’s evolving energy and industrial markets.
The organisers also see the gathering as an opportunity for Africa to develop a more unified voice in the rapidly changing global energy system.
The 2027 summit will also mark the 10th anniversary of N.I.E.S., giving the organisers an opportunity to redefine the platform’s role in Africa’s energy sector.
According to the organisers, the summit has spent the past decade convening people involved in policymaking, capital deployment and execution.
The next phase will extend that mandate across oil, gas, power and the broader energy economy.
The organisers said that the expanded platform would not simply be another industry conference, but a meeting point for policy decisions, capital deployment and strategic partnerships.
A.I
Aug. 10, 2026
Tags: NIES Nigeria International Energy Summit