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Nigeria Must Fully Implement the Petroleum Industry Act (By NJ Ayuk)

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3 years ago

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Petroleum Industry

The signing of the PIA represented the culmination of more than 20 years of efforts to reform an oil and gas sector plagued by long-standing problems on multiple fronts

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 26, 2023/APO Group/ — 

By NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber (www.EnergyChamber.org).

For years, on behalf of the African Energy Chamber (AEC), I publicly encouraged Nigeria’s leadership to sign the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law.

Across its five chapters and 300 sections, the PIB promised to repeal all regulations pertaining to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, effectively resetting decades of policy gridlock regarding fiscal imbalances and the detrimental effects of crime and corruption. In place of these regulations, the PIA offered a new framework for the industry to abide by, one that would place Nigeria back on track toward progress and prosperity.

On August 16, 2021, we were thrilled to see former President Muhammadu Buhari enact the law — now known as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) — making all its promising provisions official at long last.

Nearly two years from its passage into law, implementation of the PIA and its initiatives has been slow for numerous reasons, but not without progress, and signals from Nigeria’s new administration indicate that these conditions will not remain the status quo.

After ascending to office in May, Nigeria’s newly elected president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hit the ground running in terms of reshaping his country’s approach to petroleum industry relations and preparing to execute the mandates of the PIA.

In July of this year, President Tinubu received the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at the State House in Abuja, assuring its delegates that Nigeria welcomes their business and that his administration is working to remove any policy or procedural bottlenecks detracting from the investment appeal of Nigeria’s gas and deep-water assets.

Considering these recent statements from President Tinubu and a recently released report from his administration’s Policy Advisory Council entitled Enabling Growth in Nigeria’s Energy & Natural Resources Sectors: Sector Challenges and Proposed Interventions, Nigeria’s leadership seems intent on revitalizing the entire energy landscape across the country.

A Need for Intervention

The signing of the PIA represented the culmination of more than 20 years of efforts to reform an oil and gas sector plagued by long-standing problems on multiple fronts.

Despite its long-held status as Africa’s largest oil producer, and sixth largest in the entire world at times, 2022 saw Nigeria drop to fourth place in the African rankings behind Angola, Algeria, and Libya. With its 37.1 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves and 206.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, traditionally, petroleum products comprise nearly 6% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product, 95% of earnings from foreign trade, and 80% of government revenues.

In defiance of these significant averages, Nigeria’s oil production rate has declined in recent years, down to an average of 1 million barrels per day (mmbpd), nearly halving its OPEC quota of 1.8 mmbpd. Large-scale theft, sabotage, and pipeline vandalism account for much of this drop.

While the combined security efforts of Nigerian military forces and other government agencies under the previous administration did lead to the recovery of millions of liters of petroleum products in their various forms, they did not have a meaningful effect on the downward trend in production. Nigeria’s failure to adequately secure its infrastructure and rein in these production losses has also led international oil companies toward divestment from the region. Nigerian oil and gas sector will be one of the main attractions of the Africa Energy Week (AEW) 2023, which will be held in Cape Town from October 16th to 20th.

With President Tinubu’s endorsement and proactive stance on its directives, we hope to see the PIA’s terms fulfilled and Nigeria finally reoriented toward a more prosperous era

Hope on the Horizon

The PIA aims to reverse Nigeria’s course regarding its energy future. With President Tinubu’s endorsement and proactive stance on its directives, we hope to see the PIA’s terms fulfilled and Nigeria finally reoriented toward a more prosperous era.

Efforts to overhaul the Nigerian oil and gas industry date at least as far back as the year 2000 when the Obasanjo administration inaugurated the Oil and Gas Reform Implementation Committee, whose investigations into the Nigerian energy sector eventually led to the PIA’s initial drafts.

First introduced in 2008, the PIB was subject to years of setbacks as legislators debated its content and submitted revisions. The version finally signed into law in 2021 addresses four main areas of concern for Nigeria’s petroleum industry: governance and institutions, administration, host community development, and the fiscal framework. In short, the PIA seeks to convert the governance of Nigeria’s petroleum sector into a more commercial model.

Last summer, the AEC celebrated when the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) transitioned to NNPC Limited, a move denoting initial progress toward implementing the provisions outlined in the PIA. This transition represented a shift in how the NNPC would conduct business going forward. Free from Federal Executive Council oversight, the NNPC Limited could now pursue new ventures, become more public-facing with a stock market listing, and compete with other state-owned petroleum companies. As NNPC Limited, the company has already engaged in re-negotiations of the production-sharing contracts tied to five deepwater blocks, successfully untangling them from decades of disputes.

The transition hasn’t been as smooth for other Nigerian entities affected by the new standards put forth by the PIA. Delays in collaboration between groups like the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), attributed to incomplete agenda items like the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and the Upstream Environmental Management Regulation (UEMR), have stalled the PIA’s full implementation. However, leaders at these authorities have affirmed their commitment to the change and have encouraged all stakeholders to expedite the process.

As detailed in the Policy Advisory Council’s report, President Tinubu and his administration are well aware of Nigeria’s low ratio of revenue to GDP, low investor confidence, and monetary losses in the petroleum sector. However, the report also outlines a path toward a full reversal of these circumstances.

On a timetable covering the first 100 days and stretching outward to 2030, the Policy Advisory Council’s report explains how Nigeria’s petroleum industry can eventually achieve sustainable production rates of 4 mmbpd for oil and 12 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) for natural gas.

The Tinubu administration’s short-term goals include recruiting and placing competent leaders in the various ministries, departments, and agencies accountable to the PIA, reforming military task force operations for security, and defining fiscal policies. Moving into 2024—in addition to other security, finance, and regulatory measures—the report calls for promoting a diversified oil and gas industry and developing a gas export strategy.

Attaining Nigeria’s Ideal Future

The Policy Advisory Council’s structured and detailed report sets key performance indicators and milestones for Nigeria in the years ahead, plotting a course to a stabilized and flourishing future for the national economy and its population. The report also serves as a testament to the current administration’s intent to make this future a reality.

As one of the PIB’s most vocal supporters — having recognized its potential as a mechanism for correcting worsening conditions in Nigeria’s energy sector and reinvigorating foreign investment — I urged the previous administration to pass the bill. Considering its slow start despite having been passed into law, these recent and positive developments have given me more confidence that we will see the law fully implemented.

Nigeria still sits atop a wealth of fossil resources that offers up an end to energy poverty and financial instability as long as they are extracted and monetized responsibly and in a manner that benefits all stakeholders. The steps laid out in the Policy Advisory Council’s report lead to this exact outcome, but getting there depends entirely on the full implementation of the PIA.

I implore all of Nigeria’s leaders to continue working with one another to achieve this most critical goal.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber

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PhotonPay Raises $40M Series C to Scale Its Stablecoin-Centric Financial OS

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3 days ago

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October 30, 2026

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Financial OS

Led by Blockchain Capital, the funding will accelerate the expansion of PhotonPay’s stablecoin-centric Financial OS, connecting stablecoin liquidity with global fiat networks to unlock digital assets for everyday corporate operations and cross-border settlement.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 October 2026 – PhotonPay today announced the closing of a $40 million Series C funding round led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from new investor SBI Group and follow-on investments from existing investors IDG Capital, GL Ventures, and Lightspeed Faction. Blacksheep Technology acted as exclusive financial advisor to PhotonPay on the transaction.

 




 
 

The new capital will support the expansion of PhotonPay’s stablecoin-centric Financial Operating System (Financial OS), with investment focused on enhancing multi-asset wallet capabilities, expanding global card issuing, strengthening local clearing infrastructure in key markets, and developing an agent-ready financial execution layer.

As of August 2026, PhotonPay’s annualized transaction volume reached US$65 billion. The company has secured 34 payment and financial licenses and regulatory authorizations across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and serves over 200,000 business customers across more than 200 countries and territories.

As stablecoins move beyond crypto-native use cases into corporate treasury, settlement and commercial spending, PhotonPay sees the next phase of global finance not as a choice between stablecoins and fiat currencies, but as the convergence of both. Its Financial OS connects on-chain liquidity with the banking, clearing and card networks businesses rely on for everyday operations.

“Moving money across borders in seconds means little if it still takes days to put that capital to work,” said Lewison Chen, Founder and CEO of PhotonPay. “Stablecoins are accelerating global money movement, while local clearing and global card issuing connect that liquidity to local settlement and everyday business spending. Our Financial OS brings these capabilities together, making the underlying infrastructure far less visible to businesses, even as it becomes more essential than ever.”

“At the same time, business software is becoming increasingly autonomous,” Chen added. “AI is shifting financial workflows from people manually operating fragmented tools toward systems that understand business intent and coordinate execution across assets, accounts and financial rails. That creates the foundation for agentic commerce. Stablecoins change how money moves. AI changes how it gets put to work. But commerce is still what money is for.”

Moving Money Across Assets and Markets

PhotonPay’s Financial OS brings together multi-asset wallets, global money movement, foreign exchange, local clearing, and global card issuing through an integrated API-first architecture. This unified system gives businesses access to the financial capabilities they need to manage and deploy funds across markets.

Stablecoins sit at the core of this architecture. PhotonPay’s multi-asset wallet connects stablecoin liquidity with fiat balances, integrating asset conversion, foreign exchange, and local clearing into a single connected workflow. This enables businesses to move funds across supported on-chain and traditional financial networks, turning digital asset liquidity into purchasing power for local payments and everyday corporate spending.

Supporting this dual-rail infrastructure is PhotonPay’s established global financial network. Businesses can open local collection accounts in 17 key markets and receive funds in more than 60 currencies. On the payout side, the network supports over 100 payment routes across local clearing systems, bank transfers, and digital wallets, including payouts to 74 major local e-wallets. Approximately 97% of payout transactions reach recipients within hours or on the same day, with 68% arriving in real time.

Global card issuing extends these capabilities into programmable business spending. Through PhotonPay’s APIs, businesses and platforms can issue virtual and physical cards, configure granular spending controls, and embed card payments directly into their software and automated workflows. Over the past 12 months, PhotonPay issued 4.4 million cards, up 275% YoY.

Beyond its first-party payment solutions, PhotonPay makes its infrastructure available through embedded finance, enabling technology platforms to natively integrate global accounts, payments, and card issuing into their own products. The company now serves more than 100 enterprise and platform partners, extending the reach of its Financial OS into industry-specific workflows.

From Financial Intent to Agentic Commerce

As AI agents assume active operational roles, financial infrastructure must evolve beyond API access to enable programmable, policy-governed execution. It requires systems capable of translating high-level instructions into coordinated financial actions, with deterministic controls governing how those actions are executed.

In May 2026, PhotonPay and Mastercard completed a live agentic payment demonstration using a tokenized PhotonPay card, validating AI-initiated transactions across existing global card networks.

Building on this milestone, PhotonPay is developing standardized financial interfaces designed for developers and AI agents. With planned support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), PhotonPay aims to make account information, balances, card functions, and payments accessible as composable financial primitives, allowing AI agents to securely retrieve context and initiate financial workflows within defined authorization boundaries.

To govern this agent-ready layer, PhotonPay is developing a policy-based execution framework designed to enforce programmable authorization rules, spending limits, and transaction-level controls. The framework is intended to enable AI agents to coordinate financial tasks across supported accounts and assets, while ensuring that execution remains subject to explicit, enforceable policies set by businesses.

PhotonPay is also advancing its AI-assisted risk review capabilities, designed to identify complex cases for human assessment. Together, these initiatives reflect a foundational principle of autonomous finance: AI may interpret intent and coordinate tasks, but financial execution must remain governed by verifiable authorization, deterministic controls, and auditable records.

“Connecting financial networks is only the beginning. The real breakthrough is abstracting that complexity behind a unified, programmable financial layer, so businesses and AI agents can move from intent to execution within clearly defined boundaries,” said Chen.

Simple on the Surface, Deep by Design

The promise of a Financial OS is simplicity: enabling businesses to manage assets, route money, and execute payments through a unified financial operating layer. Yet delivering that simplicity requires deep financial infrastructure beneath the surface.

While stablecoins accelerate borderless value transfer, turning that liquidity into local settlement, supplier payments, and corporate spending still depends on established banking relationships, domestic clearing rails, foreign exchange infrastructure, and global card networks. Each market brings its own regulatory and operational requirements.

For PhotonPay, building a Financial OS means abstracting these fragmented global networks into a programmable, interconnected financial system. The objective is not to eliminate financial complexity, but to manage it within the underlying infrastructure, so businesses can operate without having to navigate these systems themselves.

“AI can simplify how businesses interact with financial services, but it cannot replace the infrastructure required to deliver them,” said JP Pi, Chief Compliance Officer at PhotonPay. “Establishing local financial capabilities takes years of investment, institutional partnerships, and regulatory engagement. Software or AI models alone cannot replicate that depth. The simplicity businesses experience is the result of that heavy lifting, not a substitute for it.”

PhotonPay has engineered a financial foundation spanning both stablecoin and fiat rails, connecting multi-asset conversion with local clearing networks. Institutional partnerships with J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, and DBS, alongside connections to domestic payment systems such as Brazil’s Pix and Mexico’s SPEI, form the backbone of this network.

The new capital will enable PhotonPay to strengthen its local clearing and compliance infrastructure in existing markets while expanding into new jurisdictions, scaling the reach of its Financial OS across corporate spending, embedded finance, and agentic commerce.

“Businesses want one provider that can handle their payments across currencies and markets, whether they’re using bank transfers, stablecoins or cards. Lewison and his team have spent a decade building the banking relationships, licenses and local payment infrastructure to deliver that. We believe PhotonPay’s ability to bring these capabilities together gives it a strong advantage as businesses adopt stablecoins for everyday payments.” – BCAP，Yuanhan Li，Partner

“As stablecoins become increasingly integrated into global payment systems, bridging digital assets with traditional financial infrastructure will be essential to unlocking their real-world potential. PhotonPay’s established global payment network and its vision for a stablecoin-centric Financial OS align closely with SBI Group’s strategy to advance digital financial infrastructure and expand the practical adoption of digital assets. We look forward to supporting PhotonPay’s continued growth and exploring opportunities for strategic collaboration across the SBI Group ecosystem.” – Eiichiro So, CEO & Managing Director of SBI Ven Capital
 




 

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Hainan economic, trade delegation visits Hong Kong for investment promotion, 2 cooperation memoranda signed

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3 days ago

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October 30, 2026

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Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 October 2026 – From October 19 to 20, an economic and trade delegation from Hainan Province paid a visit to Hong Kong. The delegation signed memoranda of cooperation respectively withThe Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong (CMA)and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI) to advance pragmatic cross-border collaboration between Hainan and Hong Kong in trade and investment, manufacturing industrial chains and professional services.

 




 
 

During its stay in Hong Kong, the delegation visited the CCPIT Representative Office in Hong Kong. It held discussions with CMA and co-hosted the Hainan Free Trade Port (Hong Kong) Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Meeting with FHKI. The event showcased the policies, key industrial layout and investment opportunities of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), and arranged one-on-one business matchmaking between Hainan and Hong Kong enterprises.

Wang Yuyuan, Vice President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hainan Sub-council (CCPIT Hainan) and China Chamber of International Commerce Hainan Chamber of Commerce, noted that since the official launch of island-wide special customs operations at the Hainan FTP on December 18, 2025, 174,000 new enterprises have been registered, representing a year-on-year surge of 95.9 percent. Newly established foreign-invested enterprises rose by 35.8 percent year on year. In the first half of this year, inbound and outbound tourist arrivals exceeded 70 million, up 28 percent year on year, with the number of visa-free entry countries expanding to 88. From January to August, the province’s total goods import and export volume hit 250 billion yuan, growing by 61.5 percent year on year. Hainan is rapidly emerging as a critical gateway connecting China with the rest of the world and a prime channel for two-way investment.

According to CCPIT Hainan, Hong Kong ranks as a major source of foreign investment for Hainan. In the first half of this year, Hainan registered 1,303 new foreign-invested enterprises, an increase of 38.62 percent year on year, with Hong Kong-funded enterprises accounting for the lion’s share. Hainan has issued offshore RMB local government bonds in Hong Kong for four consecutive years, with a cumulative issuance volume reaching 18 billion yuan.

CMA is one of Hong Kong’s most representative non-profit industrial and commercial bodies, with around 3,000 member enterprises. It has long provided members with business services including exhibitions, brand promotion, testing and certification. FHKI, one of Hong Kong’s four major chambers of commerce, has approximately 2,000 corporate members. It focuses on boosting the sustained development of Hong Kong industry and manufacturing through policy advocacy, business matchmaking, certification services and youth talent cultivation.

The two memoranda explicitly stipulate that the two sides will establish a regular liaison mechanism, build a long-term cooperation platform covering information sharing, business matchmaking, exhibition collaboration and professional services, and provide solid support for pragmatic business cooperation between Hainan and Hong Kong enterprises.

Source: China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hainan Provincial Committee (CCPIT Hainan)

 
 




 

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Africa gains governance momentum in the 2026 Chandler Good Government Index, but sustaining progress is the real test

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3 days ago

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October 29, 2026

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Africa

Across Africa, average scores improved in six of the seven CGGI pillars over the past year, with the strongest gains in Helping People Rise and Financial Stewardship

This signals that stronger government capabilities are beginning to translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives

KIGALI, Rwanda, October 29, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa was the second best-performing region for governance progress in the 2026 Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI), with 71% of the African countries assessed in both 2025 and 2026 achieving higher overall scores. However, the continent remains the lowest-scoring region overall, highlighting the challenge of translating improvement in government capabilities into better outcomes for citizens.

 




 
 

These findings were highlighted by the Chandler Governance Group (CGG) at a joint session with the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) to launch the 13th edition of the Rwanda Governance Scorecard at the Kigali Serena Hotel on Thursday, 22 October 2026.

“This year, Africa’s strongest gains came in Financial Stewardship, followed by Helping People Rise, the CGGI’s outcomes pillar. This signals that stronger government capabilities are beginning to translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives, from access to quality education and healthcare to the public finances that fund them. The task now is to sustain that progress over the coming years,” says Dinesh Naidu, Director (Knowledge) at CGG.

Now in its sixth edition, the CGGI assesses government capabilities and effectiveness across 133 countries representing 94% of the world’s population, up from 120 countries in 2025. It measures 35 equally weighted indicators across seven pillars, providing governments with a framework to benchmark performance, identify gaps and learn from the experience of other countries.

Globally, the findings point to improving governance performance. Of the 120 countries assessed in both 2025 and 2026, 61% recorded higher scores, representing the highest annual share of countries improving since the Index launched in 2021. However, longer-term progress has been less consistent, with only 43% of the 104 countries tracked since 2021 recording an overall improvement.

Africa’s leading governments

Mauritius remains Africa’s highest-ranked country, placing 55th globally, followed by Rwanda (62nd), Botswana (70th), Morocco (79th) and Tanzania (80th). South Africa ranks sixth on the continent, in 85th place globally.

Rwanda features prominently in the discussion, ranking 11th globally for Leadership & Foresight and emerging as the highest-ranked low-income country in the Index. It ranks 61 places above where its income alone would predict. Across the Index, government capabilities track citizen outcomes more closely than national wealth does, suggesting that strengthening government capabilities matter in delivering better outcomes for citizens.

The joint session brings together the CGGI’s international benchmarks and the Rwanda Governance Scorecard’s assessment of governance in the Rwandan context, creating an opportunity to consider both global perspectives and country-specific priorities.

Progress across key governance pillars

Across Africa, average scores improved in six of the seven CGGI pillars over the past year, with the strongest gains in Helping People Rise and Financial Stewardship. These improvements point to progress in areas associated with public services, including healthcare and education, as well as the management of public finances.

Longer-term trends also highlight areas of progress. Between 2021 and 2026, nearly every African country assessed across the period improved its Data Capability score, with Morocco recording the largest gains. Ghana’s overall score improved in 2026, supported by stronger Financial Stewardship, while South Africa continues to show relative strength in Robust Laws & Policies, ranking 44th globally, and Attractive Marketplace, ranking 48th.

Despite these gains, the scale of the challenge remains clear. Africa’s regional average is still below its 2021 level, 23 of the 35 African countries in the 2026 Index rank outside the global top 100, and none is in the top 50. Seven African countries joined the Index this year: Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Guinea, Lesotho, Liberia and Togo.

“Rankings provide a useful starting point, but the broader value of the CGGI lies in helping governments understand where they are making progress and where further work is needed. Sustained improvements depend on the ability to strengthen institutions, manage resources responsibly and turn policy into meaningful outcomes for citizens,” says Naidu.

A tool for learning and improvement

The CGGI is designed as a practical diagnostic tool, helping governments identify gaps, track progress over time, and learn from peers facing similar constraints. The collaboration with the RGB brings international benchmarking together with locally grounded assessment.

“Every country faces its own governance challenges and is driven by varying priorities. Governments that are willing to take stock of the evidence and learn from peers to strengthen their institutions are well placed to achieve real improvements,” concludes Naidu.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Chandler Governance Group.

 

 




 

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