The second edition of the Subnational Climate Governance Performance Rating and Ranking (SCGPRR) assessed climate governance across Nigeria’s 36 states, with 36 authorised respondents completing the survey (75% male, 25% female; only 3% under 35 years). Lagos, Katsina and Kaduna emerged as top performing states scoring 315, 310 and 300 respectively out of a maximum score of 365.
Lagos, Katsina, and Kaduna states were rated as “outstanding”, with Kano, Enugu, Osun and Oyo states achieving “high” performance ranking. The other states achieved “average” and “good” ranking statuses. Only Zamfara and Rivers achieved “low” ranking status.
Kaduna state ranked highest on institutional arrangements and administrative structures while Lagos, Katsina and Kano states shared top scores for climate project implementation and monitoring. Twelve states including Lagos, Oyo, Borno and Kaduna demonstrated leadership in online visibility. Twenty-three states made provisions for climate change projects in their 2025 Appropriation Acts– an improvement from the previous edition. Only Lagos and Katsina states implemented green bonds while Niger, Gombe, Cross River, Kaduna, Oyo and Sokoto states made provisions for green bonds in their 2025 budgets but have not yet implemented them
The Centre for Climate Change and Development (CCCD) at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, in partnership with the Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales (IDDRI) in Paris, under the Ukama Network, in collaboration with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) has successfully hosted a workshop on Trade, Investment and green industrialisation in Nigeria: strengthening relationship with the European Union.
The workshop, which held at Transcorp Hilton Abuja, brought together over 50 high-level stakeholders, including policymakers, private sector leaders, diplomats, and development experts, to advance Nigeria’s green economic agenda and strengthen its position in green industrialisation, with a focus on the relationship with the European Union (EU).
As Nigeria seeks to diversify its economy from fossil fuels, stakeholders examined existing policies, institutional frameworks, and partnerships towards these goals, and offered recommendations. This intervention is of impeccable timing in light of recent geopolitical shifts, which have impacted several sectors and heralded international market realignments, highlighting the need to forge new international partnerships amidst the urgency to transition from fossil dependence.
Recently, Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, speaking at the 2026 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, outlined Nigeria’s strategic vision of mobilising up to $20-$30 billion annually in climate finance for climate-resilient growth and energy transition. The workshop served as a timely platform to analyse the pathway to operationalising these national priorities through enhanced EU collaboration.
At the policy workshop, participants emphasised green industrialisation as an economic necessity, aligning with Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan and net-zero goals by 2060, while identifying operationalisation gaps, opportunities, and making practical and actionable recommendations towards strengthening collaboration on sustainable trade and green industrialisation.
In his welcome remarks, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, CCCD Director and Ukama Co-Chair, highlighted the workshop’s focus on addressing structural vulnerabilities in Nigeria’s economy, such as over-reliance on oil exports, which accounts for 90% of Nigeria’s earnings, and leveraging global opportunities like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and EU’s Global Gateway Initiative.
“This dialogue aims to access policy frameworks, identify barriers and opportunities, facilitate collaboration, curate actionable plans, and commitments to reposition Nigeria for sustainable, inclusive growth,” Prof. Okereke stated.
Participants at the Ukama Platform workshop
In his remarks, Dr. Sebastien Treyer, IDDRI Executive Director and Ukama Co-Chair, underscored the importance of mutual partnerships.
“We aim to identify factors blocking market access, with a focus on understanding the key issues faced by private players in Africa who want to invest in green industrialisation supply chains, and enhance investment relations between Nigeria and the EU, fostering shared prosperity and climate action,” he said.
Dr. Mrs. Rachel Mandi George, Director of Trade at FMITI, reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to policies promoting sustainable industrial development, renewable energy, and value addition.
“The steps taken by the European Union represent a shared commitment to shape a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economic future for Nigeria. As Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation, the choices we make today regarding industrial growth, trade, and investment will determine not only our economic prosperity but also our environmental sustainability and social wellbeing. Green industrialisation offers Nigeria a transformative pathway,” she stated.
Mr. Olamide Fagbuji, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Climate Technology and Operations, speaking on Nigeria’s policy landscape, outlined several policies developed by Nigeria to promote climate action.
“Nigeria, through the Climate Change Act, established the National Council on Climate Change to promote and coordinate national climate action. This body has enabled the development of several key policy frameworks, including the Energy Transition Plan (our blueprint for achieving net zero), the Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy (LT-LED), and, notably, the Nationally Determined Contribution 3.0, published late last year. As a country, we remain focused on mobilising investment to ensure Nigeria meets its climate commitments,” he said.
In his Address, the Head of EU delegation in Nigeria, Ambassador Gautier Mignot, described the EU partnership offer as long-term, and sustainable, quality infrastructure that is beneficial to partner countries without creating new forms of dependency.
“At the regional level across West Africa, we are fostering integration and developing trade corridors while supporting the African Continental Free Trade Area. On industrialisation, our priority is to build the industries of the future, not the industries of the past, and to support companies through that transition. That commitment lies at the heart of our partnership with Nigeria. Specific strategies will reflect each country’s sovereign choices, and we are ready to provide technical assistance to both federal and state governments. Ultimately, our goal is to develop local value chains that deliver real benefits to partner countries,” he said.
The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) Project Lead / Senior Policy Analyst, Gboyega Olorunfemi has called for a focused leadership by regional institutions in strengthening Early warning Climate Resilience and Human Mobility Systems in West Africa.
This call was made while speaking at the side event organised by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and AGRHYMET Regional Centre at COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
Responding to a question on what ECOWAS Member States are expecting from regional institutions in term of support to integrate climate mobility into national adaptation plans (NAPs) and policies, Mr. Olorunfemi stated that regional bodies need to be intentional and strategic in mainstreaming climate policies across the region by playing a central role which goes beyond acting as advisory bodies, but actively ensuring that national development documents comply with existing regional frameworks, are technically sound, and are designed and used as investable political instruments that can attract project financing for both national and regional growth.
“Regional bodies must be intentional and strategic,” Mr. Olorunfemi said. “They should encourage collaboration among countries, conduct a synthesis of all submitted NAPs to assess integration of Early Warning Systems and climate mobility, and use that analysis to identify gaps.”
Olorunfemi enjoined regional institution to rally technical assistance for member states to drive efficiency and to effectively integrate Measurement and Evaluation mechanism in their respective project implementation.
In reacting to a question on failures of early warning systems on flooding, Olorunfemi emphasised that the Local government leadership be designated and empowered as first responder, the channel of communicating warnings must be improved and ensure it get to the right people in the right form and language.
He further highlights the need for provision of adequate infrastructure for evacuation to designated make shift camps, while encouraging government to build trust with people living in the vulnerable planes through continuous sensitisation and advocacy. “No life is worth losing to flooding when it is avoidable” he said.
With COP30 spotlighting implementation and resilience, the discussion took place in the context of intensifying climate impacts across West Africa, where communities are facing increasing risks of displacement, migration, and loss of livelihoods, with women disproportionately affected due to limited access to early warning information and adaptation resources which continue to constrain evidence-based and equitable responses.
The event which highlighted how integrated early warning and climate mobility systems can drive anticipatory action, enhance cross-border cooperation, and build long-term climate resilience, and the role of regional bodies in coordinating these efforts had in the panel Dr. Raoul Koumane, ECOWAS; Dr. Boubacar AssoumanaAGRHYMET; John Baki, Women Environment Programme (WEP); Darius ANKAMAH, Alliance for Youth in Climate Change Action (AYCCA); ECOWAS and was moderated by SODOKIN Komi Elom Claude, IOM.
On 24-25 November, African and European leaders will meet for the 7th African Union-European Union Summit (AU-EU) in Luanda, Angola. In parallel, private sector representatives will discuss new avenues for investment and cooperation at the AU-EU Business Summit. A lot is happening on both continents with regard to green industrial policies, with a particular appetite for the mobility, minerals and agro-food sectors which are of strategic interest for countries in Africa and Europe. Policy and investment environments are evolving thanks to the ambitious commitments made recently during the 2nd Africa Climate Summit or within the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal and energy and climate vision. But those commitments are not always aligned, and the global trade war and the race to competitiveness in green sectors are not always playing towards long-term strategic partnerships and positive sum games. This blog post makes 3 proposals to foster such a long-term vision and successful new trade and investment partnership tools which could help Africa and Europe both gain in competitiveness.
Note: This blog posts builds on discussions facilitated by the Ukama Africa-Europe network during a policy-business dialogue held on 17 October, 2025: “Forging green industrial partnerships between Europe and Africa:new momentum, opportunities and barriers.
Proposal #1: Moving from transactional trade to strategic interdependence
The global demand for Africa’s critical minerals and vast renewable energy resources is soaring, yet this presents an existential risk, i.e. replicating the old extractive model or creating “green enclaves” large-scale projects that generate wealth but remain largely disconnected from local economies and fail to catalyze wider transformation. Africa’s partnerships must therefore target a growing degree of downstream value addition. In this context, increased green industrial activity can be designed to serve both export markets and domestic needs.
Africa could for example export green hydrogen, but a lot of potential sits in further value creation. Green hydrogen can indeed play a key role in high-value, energy-intensive products: green HBI (Hot Briquetted Iron) and green steel are prime examples for export, leveraging Africa’s low-cost renewables to create competitively priced, low-carbon intermediary goods for traditional European industrial sectors; in parallel, green fertilizers for domestic use immediately address a continental challenge, reducing reliance on expensive imports and strengthening food security; and the production of alternative green fuels for transport could soon open new export and domestic bunkering markets.
However, investment and subsequent development at scale will not happen in the absence of viable business cases. For green HBI/steel, viability relies on a durable global cost competitiveness and needs to be underpinned by enabling policy and securing massive, long-term, low-cost power and ensuring predictable off-take agreements with global consumers to de-risk the investment. As for green fertilizers, viability arises when local production results in lower costs and higher predictable availability than import, which–given the global fertilizer market structure and high African import dependency–is a viable near-term prospect.
A strategic approach de-risks investment by linking export revenue with domestic development, ensuring that green growth is genuinely inclusive and creates the thousands of jobs possible in well-structured industrial parks. Africa can become a global green manufacturing hub, but only if policymakers, investors, and industrial leaders embrace a new era of competitive interdependence by building production capacity where it makes most economic, climate, and developmental sense.
Proposal #2: Aligning capital with pan-African initiatives and regional clusters
The ambition of Africa’s Green Industrialization Initiative (AGII) has been solidified by recent commitments at the 2nd Africa Climate Summit (IDDRI, 2025) providing crucial strategic direction for the continent’s green economic shift. This intent was powerfully underlined by African financial institutions, including the African Development Bank and Afreximbank, who signed the cooperation framework, pledging to mobilize over $100 billion for large-scale AGII projects, which could act as a strong signaling mechanism for global investors.
To realize this vision, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a key piece of the puzzle, as it transforms Africa into a single, vast market, which is essential for achieving the scale and integration necessary for cluster industrial investment. This allows for the critical shift to invest across the entire value chain, from mine to product. For instance, the Southern Africa EV metals cluster requires integrated investment in mining, refining, and component manufacturing, which the AfCFTA’s unified market helps to sustain. This framework encourages coordinated policies that make these pan-African, full-value-chain projects globally competitive, accelerating the strategic goal of moving beyond simple extraction and into resilient green industry.
AGII’s financial backing signals a clear commitment to building competitive green industrial corridors. International partners are now invited to align their capital with this African-led direction. Purposeful integration into global supply chains and capitalizing on Africa’s inherent potential for climate competitiveness can drive commercially viable investment cases that unlock a globally competitive, sustainable manufacturing base for shared prosperity.
Proposal #3: Facilitating investments and removing trade barriers: new partnership models
Both the AU and the EU advance their respective industrial strategies, and the 7th AU-EU Summit is a timely opportunity to reassess how trade and investment tools can be mobilized to drive clean industrial development while deepening cooperation between the two regions. Aligning domestic policy objectives and economic foreign policy requires moving beyond traditional approaches. This means identifying and removing barriers to trade and investment in clean supply chains while exploring new approaches to international cooperation suited to today’s geopolitical context, where both sides face pressures to decarbonize, diversify supply chains, and attract investment in strategic sectors.
There is already much to build on. In recent years, new partnership models between the EU and African economies have emerged blending traditional trade and investment tools with more targeted, industrial-policy-oriented instruments. The Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFA) is one example. The first agreement of this kind was concluded between the EU and Angola in 2024 seeking to attract, expand, and retain foreign direct investment (FDI). It blends traditional investment facilitation disciplines—aimed at simplifying administrative procedures, enhancing transparency, and improving predictability for foreign investors—with provisions designed to steer investments towards sustainable development objectives. Although it is too early to assess its impact on investment flows, the SIFA offers a promising framework for a country like Angola, whose economy remains highly dependent on fossil fuels, to attract more diversified and sustainable investment. Building on this experience, the EU is currently negotiating a SIFA with Côte d’Ivoire, with plans to launch negotiations with Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana. The real test will be whether this tool can be flexibly adapted to the very different economic contexts, investment needs, profiles, and domestic priorities of African partners and what kind of investment it ultimately attracts.
Another illustration of merging old and new is the first-ever EU Clean Trade and Investment Partnership (CTIP) with South Africa, expected to be concluded at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. The CTIP targets higher-value sectors such as electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, green hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuels, supported by a dedicated Global Gateway investment package, integrating trade, investment, sustainable development, and industrial policy under a single framework. Interestingly, the CTIP has provided a space to rethink rules of origin (ROOs) for EVs, which have long been identified as a barrier to the transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to EVs, as per the European Commission’s ex post evaluation of the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). With three out of every four vehicles produced in South Africa exported to the EU, current ROOs) —which determine the economic nationality of a product—could prevent EVs from qualifying for preferential zero-tariff treatment, given the reliance on batteries sourced from Asia, which account for a large share of the vehicle’s value. Designing EV-specific ROOs tailored to EU-SADC supply chains could facilitate EV trade while also incentivizing investment in battery manufacturing in both regions. This example illustrates the trade and investment barriers that must be addressed and highlights the need for innovative, context-specific solutions to drive clean industrial development across both regions.
The AU-EU Summit will take place in a complex geopolitical moment marked by shifting priorities and alliances. Green industrialization ambitions must however resonate on both continents. The EU remains Africa’s leading trade (EU-Africa trade flows reached approximately €355 billion in 2024)1, investment, and development partner with recent announcement at the Global Gateway Forum2 to back up the Africa-Europe Green Energy Initiative (AEGEI) launched at the last AU-EU Summit (2022) with an additional €618 million package to scale up renewables in Africa.
In the fast-evolving context of industrial policy initiatives on both continents and the diversification of partnerships and alliances, the three proposals developed above could help anchor partnerships in a longer term and more mutually beneficial vision of competitiveness and prioritize sustainable investments in economic diversification and regional manufacturing hubs.
As global climate negotiations unfold at COP30 Belem, Brazil, one of the revelations that has caught media attention is that global GHG emissions are still rising and that the world may be headed for a 2.5oc temperature rise by the end of the century. With the effects of climate change already weighing heavily on us in Nigeria, it has become imperative to factor climate resilience in fabric of every sector. One of the sectors where urgent action is required in Nigeria is the building sector.
Globally, buildings account for 37% of greenhouse gas emissions, consume 40% of the world’s energy, and use 16% of water annually (UNEP, 2024). Cement, the backbone of construction in Nigeria, is responsible for emitting over 11 million tonnes of CO₂ every year, according to UNEP (2023). We also face a housing deficit of over 24 million units, with more than 75% of existing homes classified as substandard by government and industry assessments. This has fueled a sprawling informal construction boom that often overlooks climate resilience, increasing dependence on diesel generators, straining waste management systems, and leaving millions vulnerable to environmental hazards. In 2012, catastrophic floods displaced 2.1 million people and caused an estimated ₦2.6 trillion in damages. Another 600,000 people were displaced during the 2018 floods, underscoring the growing threat of climate-related disasters(UN-Habitat, 2024). Meanwhile, Nigerian cities grow at over 3.5% annually and Nigeria ranks 162 out of 180 countries in the 2022 Environmental Performance Index, a painful reminder that we are falling behind.
The spaces where we live shape how we adapt to climate change. Stronger building codes mean safer homes, fewer lives lost to disasters, and cities that thrive rather than crumble. Nigeria has introduced climate policies such as the NDC pledging 20% unconditional emission reduction and 47% conditional emissions reduction by 2030, the Climate Change Act (2021), the National Building Code, and the Building Energy Efficiency Code (2017). Yet these commitments have not translated to practice. The gap is not one of ambition but a lack of enforcement.
Nigeria’s building regulations exist, but are rarely enforced consistently with implementation heavily impeded and compromised by local politics and corruption. Informal construction remains widespread due to limited technical expertise and weak institutional oversight.
Lagos State exemplifies the complexity of Nigeria’s urban regulatory landscape. Securing a building permit involves navigating 17 distinct procedures over an average of 118 days. Faced with such delays, developers rationally choose to bribe officials for expedited permits or to build informally without permits. These practices undermine code compliance and heighten safety risks. While regulatory agencies have the mandate to inspect and enforce standards, enforcement tends to be reactive rather than preventive, often triggered only after structural failures or public outcry. At its core, this is a governance challenge, not just a technical one.
Yet change is possible. Kenya updated its National Building Code in 2024 to mandate rainwater harvesting, heat mitigation, energy efficiency, and Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure, making climate resilience legally required, not optional. India’s Energy Conservation and Sustainable Building Code establishes tiered compliance levels, allowing developers to choose standards that match their project budgets while maintaining baseline performance. These example are recent, tested, and can apply to Nigeria.
Strengthening codes alone will fail without simultaneously investing in enforcement capacity, institutional integrity, and professional accountability. Research has shown that the issue isn’t a lack of laws, but a failure to enforce them effectively. The gap between Nigeria’s codes and their implementation is not knowledge; it is institutional will that requires action on three fronts:
First, we must integrate climate resilience into the National Building Code itself. Mandatory provisions must address energy efficiency, water conservation, flood resilience, and embodied carbon with clear standards tied to climate zones, including inclusivity requirements for disabled or vulnerable occupants, ensuring resilience serves all populations, not just the able-bodied. This integration must reflect Nigeria’s actual emissions and vulnerabilities.
Secondly, we need to reform enforcement. Permitting processes must be streamlined to eliminate corruption incentives. Multi-agency coordination must be simplified. Professional oversight must be strengthened with clear liability. Training for building officials must be mandatory. The adoption of transparent online permitting systems can significantly reduce opportunities for corruption by minimizing human discretion and increasing accountability. Critically, state and federal oversight is essential as local authorities alone cannot bear the full weight of enforcement.
Thirdly, we need to create market incentives that reward excellence. Kenya offers a compelling model by pairing mandatory building standards with voluntary green certification schemes that unlock financing benefits. Nigeria could adopt a similar dual-track approach. Mandatory standards would establish the baseline for compliance, while voluntary certifications would encourage developers to aim higher, offering access to concessional financing, faster permitting, and recognition for sustainable performance.
With 24 million housing units needed and millions more to come, Nigeria faces a transformational opportunity. Each new building is an opportunity to construct smarter, more resilient structures. Enforcing standards sets a precedent, and holding developers accountable strengthens norms. By strengthening and enforcing building codes, construction shifts from national liability to national asset. The benefits are far-reaching: reduced repair costs, healthier living, job creation, innovation in local materials, and greater resilience to climate shocks.
If we fail to act, the costs will be staggering. The cities we build today will shape generations to come. We can settle for incremental tweaks or seize the chance to build lasting resilience. We can treat building codes as bureaucratic hurdles or embrace them as essential tools for public safety and climate adaptation.
The real question facing Nigeria is not whether we can afford to act, but whether we can afford not to.
