The United States of America and Nigeria, today opened an inaugural strategic dialogue on energy.
The dialogue, which has U.S. and Nigerian officials in attendance, will focus on opportunities to expand cooperation on improving energy security and access, decarbonization of the oil and gas sector, and accelerating the energy transition.
The Strategic Energy Dialogue will be led by the US Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR), Geoffrey R. Pyatt, while a senior delegation from the Nigerian government led by the Honorable Minister of State Petroleum Resources Ekperikpe Ekpo will be participating in the event holding in Washington DC.
In addition to Assistant Secretary Pyatt, the United States’ delegation will include senior officials from the Bureau of African Affairs, the Office of the Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, USAID’s Power Africa, the Department of Energy, the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), and the Export-Import Bank (EXIM).
They will also engage on strategies to enhance Nigeria’s power sector, including electricity production and distribution. The dialogue will advance bilateral cooperation on key State Department energy initiatives such as the Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST), Women in Energy, and the Clean Energy Demand Initiative (CEDI).
Additionally, participants will engage on promoting progress on U.S. government initiatives like Power Africa, which aims to increase electricity access and promote energy, investment in sub-Saharan Africa, USAID’s Gas Flare Program, and the Department of Energy’s Net Zero World.
The dialogue will also include a public-private discussion hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to deepen private sector partnerships and investments between the United States and Nigeria.
According to the United States Mission (USM) in Nigeria, the Dialogue is a key outcome of a series of successful bilateral engagements, including Secretary of State Antony’s Blinken’s trip to Nigeria in January 2024, Deputy Secretary Kurt Campbell’s meeting with Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar during the sixth U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission in April, and Assistant Secretary Pyatt’s meeting with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023, where this dialogue was agreed.
“Understanding the fundamental role the private sector plays in meeting our bilateral energy and climate goals, this dialogue aims to foster enhanced collaboration between the U.S. and Nigerian private sectors, creating new opportunities for American and Nigerian businesses and contributing to the growth and sustainability of the energy sectors in both countries, with the goal of delivering shared prosperity to the Nigerian and American people,” said the USM.