By Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah
As part of the Federal Government’s push to expand domestic gas capacity, the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) says it has unlocked roughly $1.7 billion for 31 key infrastructure projects designed to bridge Nigeria’s energy deficit.
The Executive Director of MDGIF, Mr Oluwole Adama, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Persecond News on Monday on the sidelines of ADIPEC 2026 in Abu Dhabi, explaining that the fund had secured about $500 million in Final Investment Decisions (FIDs), alongside an additional $1.2 billion in funding unlocked through its interventions.
Adama said the investments cover about 105 infrastructure facilities, including gas processing plants, CNG stations and other facilities required to move gas from production and processing points to end users.
He explained that MDGIF was established under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 to provide catalytic investment across Nigeria’s midstream and downstream gas sectors, stressing that its mandate goes beyond supporting the conversion of vehicles to compressed natural gas.
“Our role is not limited to CNG auto. The objective is to deepen the main infrastructure that will bring gas to the last mile. We have invested in several processing plants, CNG mother stations and daughter stations, because without the infrastructure to move gas, the benefits of gas utilisation cannot reach the people who need it,”
According to him, the fund has had to establish its investment framework and policies before deploying capital, as its intervention is structured around equity and patient capital rather than grants or conventional loans.
Adama said the process involved consultations with international infrastructure financing and consulting organisations, including PwC and KPMG, to develop the procedures and investment criteria required to protect public funds while attracting private sector participation.
He said the fund’s catalytic model was designed to reduce investment risks and encourage other financiers to commit capital to projects that might otherwise struggle to secure funding because of high borrowing costs and currency fluctuations.
“MDGIF is not set up to spend government money as grants. Our role is to help businesses establish these projects by providing patient capital and absorbing some of the risks that make infrastructure investment difficult. Once the businesses become operational, they can attract more funding, including international finance,”
Adama put Nigeria’s annual funding gap in the midstream and downstream gas sectors at about $20 billion over the next three years, describing the scale of the requirement as too large for government funding alone.
He said the fund had consequently pursued partnerships with domestic and international financing institutions, including a memorandum of understanding with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for $500 million over three years.
He added that some projects were already on the bank’s books, with funding expected to be released in the coming months, while discussions were ongoing with other international partners to mobilise additional capital.
The MDGIF chief said the fund was also working with local infrastructure financing partners to provide credit guarantees and other support that could improve the bankability of projects.
On access to the fund, Adama said prospective investors could obtain its investment policies, processes and eligibility criteria through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) website, where the fund is hosted.
He said the application process had been automated, allowing companies to submit proposals and supporting documents online without necessarily having direct contact with the fund’s management.
“The fund is accessible. People can go to the NMDPRA website, see our investment policy, the process and the criteria, and submit their applications. We have gone live with an automated portal, and some companies have accessed the fund simply by going online and submitting their documentation,” he said.
He, however, cautioned that MDGIF’s intervention should not be mistaken for government grants, emphasising that public investment must be protected and deployed in projects capable of delivering sustainable returns.
Adama said the fund was also prioritising the geographical spread of projects to ensure that gas infrastructure development was not concentrated in only a few parts of the country.
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