Nigeria’s South East Development Commission (SEDC) has committed $3 million to a planned $100 million gas pipeline across the country’s five south-eastern states.
The commission intends the stake to draw in state governments, institutions and private lenders to pay for most of the 400-kilometre network.
The SEDC, signed an investment agreement with promoter GasSync Ltd. on Tuesday in Enugu, where Deputy House Speaker Benjamin Kalu represented President Bola Tinubu at the ceremony.
SEDC Managing Director Mark Okoye said the commission carried out technical, financial and legal due diligence before committing the funds, and its board approved the deal.
He said SEDC aims to raise up to $30 million in total from investors in the region, including its own $3 million.
The $3 million covers 3% of the first-phase cost. At the official exchange rate of about N1,335.50 per dollar, it is about N4 billion. That is about 2.9% of the N140 billion 2026 budget the House of Representatives committee approved for SEDC this month, on MoneyCentral calculations.
The government had earlier released about N16.6 billion ($12 million) for SEDC to begin operations.
The Project
The gas pipeline network is planned to begin at Ohaji in Imo State, home to the ANOH Gas Processing Plant. It will run through Owerri, branch to Aba in Abia State and Onitsha in Anambra State, and extend later to Enugu and Ebonyi.
SEDC is running the project through its investment arm, the South-East Investment Company, with GasSync and NNPC Gas Marketing Ltd. as partners.
GasSync has identified about 150 potential customers in manufacturing, power generation and agro-processing, with projected demand of 254 million standard cubic feet of gas a day.
The company is in talks with Geometric Power, which runs the 188-megawatt plant in Aba.
“We are going to start at Ohaji and Onitsha at the same time,” said Callistus Mba, who spoke for GasSync. He said construction is planned to start in the first quarter of 2027, with first gas in the second quarter of 2028.
Why It Matters
Factories in the South-East rely heavily on diesel and on compressed or liquefied gas trucked in by road, both of which cost far more than piped gas.
Geometric Power’s Aba plant shows how fragile supply can be. Customers there went back to diesel when gas deliveries dipped for several days.
Enugu Governor Peter Mbah said his state alone has “four gas fields that remain unexploited.”
The region’s leaders say piped gas could restart dormant factories in Enugu, support agro-processing in Ebonyi and keep young workers from leaving.
President Tinubu, in remarks delivered by Kalu, said energy infrastructure “will reduce costs, create jobs and expand opportunities.”
Risks to the Project
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Funding gap. About 97% of the first-phase cost is still to be raised. Mba said funding was “advancing towards financial close,” but no lenders or equity partners were named.
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Cost assumptions. $100 million for 400 kilometres works out to about $250,000 a kilometre, on MoneyCentral calculations. That is low for a gas pipeline and suggests the first phase covers only part of the network, or uses smaller distribution pipes.
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Gas supply. The projected 254 million cubic feet a day equals about 85% of the ANOH plant’s 300 million design capacity. The plant was producing 150 million to 170 million a day in July.
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SEDC Governance. In June the Senate committee overseeing SEDC questioned the commission’s spending in its first six months. SEDC said its expenditure was lawful and that it would provide its records, BBC News Pidgin reported.
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Execution. Right of way, environmental approvals and agreements with host communities have delayed many Nigerian gas pipelines for example the AKK.
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