The announcement was made during a high-level virtual climate dialogue co-hosted by the United Nations and Brazil and signals Nigeria’s intent to be a major participant in Africa’s carbon market landscape. As part of the broader energy reforms architecture, Tinubu announced the finalization of the Nigeria Carbon Market Activation Policy in March 2025.
The policy introduces new market infrastructure, including a national carbon registry, project eligibility rules aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and incentives to scale private-sector credit generation. The registry has been developed under the Africa Carbon Market Initiative (ACMI) and has been operational since 2024.
Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP), which forms the backbone of its climate commitments, calls for over $410 billion in financing to reach net-zero by 2060, covering five core sectors — power, cooking, transportation, oil and gas, and industry. The carbon market is being integrated as a complementary mechanism to support these goals, with the Global Climate Change Investment Fund expected to channel blended finance into priority areas like clean energy mini-grids, e-mobility and green industrial hubs.
“The global climate emergency demands our collective, courageous, and sustained leadership,” Tinubu urged, calling on world leaders to seize the moment ahead of COP30.
“We view climate action not as a cost to development, but as a strategic imperative,” he added, underscoring Nigeria’s ambition to turn environmental stewardship into an engine for growth.
Mission 300 initiative backed by the African Development Bank
Nigeria is also one of the anchor countries in the Mission 300 initiative, which aims to deliver electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030. This initiative is backed by the African Development Bank and the World Bank, and is aligned with Nigeria’s ambition to expand energy access without increasing emissions, according to the World Bank’s Africa Energy Outlook.
In contrast to some African countries like Kenya, which already host a sizable number of projects under voluntary carbon standards like Verra and Gold Standard, Nigeria’s market is still in a development phase — but recent policy actions indicate a rapid ramp-up. Nigeria has registered only a limited number of international voluntary projects so far, though that figure is expected to grow under the new policy, as per data available on the Verra registry and the Nigeria Carbon Registry.
Tinubu also reaffirmed Nigeria’s regional leadership, referencing its pioneering role in the Dar es Salaam Declaration and the launch of the National Energy Compact, which — being among the first in Africa — lays out reform commitments, investment opportunities and measurable targets for expanding clean energy access and clean cooking solutions.
To ensure environmental integrity, Nigeria is implementing due diligence protocols within its registry system. While formal harmonization with frameworks such as the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) or the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) has not been announced, government officials have expressed interest in aligning with evolving global standards, according to statements made by Nigeria’s Office of the Vice President during the ACMI launch event.
Nigeria states the fund will prioritize projects with measurable climate benefits
The Global Climate Change Investment Fund will serve as a platform to pool public and private finance, with a mandate to de-risk early-stage green projects and crowd in commercial capital. Specific governance structures or fund management entities have not yet been disclosed publicly, but Nigeria has stated the fund will prioritize projects with measurable climate and development co-benefits, according to policy documents shared by the Ministry of Environment.
Initial credit generation efforts are expected to focus on sectors such as forestry, improved cookstoves, renewable mini-grids and methane reduction projects. A recent example includes a partnership with ThriveAgric to implement sustainable agriculture solutions linked to credit generation, as listed on the Nigeria Carbon Registry.
Risks to implementation include regulatory uncertainty, capacity constraints and financing shortfalls. In response, Nigeria has partnered with technical advisors like Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to strengthen institutional readiness. These partnerships are focused on policy support; measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) frameworks; and capacity building, as outlined in SEforALL’s Nigeria country program.
Nigeria has not yet published a detailed strategy for attracting international buyers or establishing a trading platform, but government officials have held exploratory talks with multilateral carbon facility managers and exchanges. The goal is to ensure price discovery and liquidity in the future, according to internal government briefings cited in local media reports.
Timelines for full implementation remain fluid. The carbon market forms one pillar of Nigeria’s broader decarbonization strategy, which also includes updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Tinubu confirmed that Nigeria will submit a comprehensive revision of its NDCs by September 2025, embedding the new carbon market framework into its updated climate pledges.
The NDCs are being revised in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process and will reflect carbon market integration as a key instrument for climate finance mobilization, as per the Ministry of Environment.
For in-depth coverage of these stories and access to regular updates, sign up for our free Fastmarkets Carbon Newsletter.
