A Professor of Practice and Global Advisor on Climate Finance and Sustainable Infrastructure, Patrick Ogunnowo, on Tuesday maintained that with a proper framework, Nigeria can earn as much as N1 trillion from climate action and carbon markets.
Speaking in Abuja while briefing the press, Ogunnowo stated that beyond aspiration, this is a realistic, data-aligned opportunity waiting to be structured, verified, and monetised by West Africa’s most populous nation.
According to the Founder/CEO of UK Trade and Infrastructure Enterprise Limited (AUKTIE)-a UK-registered consultancy shaping renewable-energy deployment and carbon-market readiness across Africa, the UK, and the UAE, Nigeria’s next competitive advantage lies not only in generating clean power but in measuring, certifying, and monetising the carbon savings behind it.
“Nigeria can unlock over N1 trillion in new annual revenue from climate action and carbon markets alone. This is not an aspiration, this is a realistic, data-aligned opportunity waiting to be structured, verified, and monetised,” he pointed out.
Nigeria, he said, stands at a defining moment in its energy transition, explaining that the mission of the organisation he represents is to bring clarity, structure, and monetisable value to the renewable energy ecosystem by aligning technology deployment with carbon finance intelligence, global standards, and real economic outcomes.
“Our purpose in engaging renewable energy stakeholders, government ministries, state agencies, financiers, clean energy developers, and corporate energy users is simple but transformative: to unlock Nigeria’s untapped climate wealth by helping organisations convert clean-energy projects into verifiable, bankable, and globally tradable carbon assets,” he added.
Through AUKTIE and the CarbonScope360/CarbonBrand ecosystem, he stated that the work of the organisation is anchored on four interconnected pillars, including bridging renewable energy deployment with carbon monetisation and advising governments and institutions on policy, regulation & market architecture.
Others, he said, are: Supporting renewable energy companies to access climate finance at scale and mobilising partnerships across the climate investment ecosystem.
Nigeria, he argued, must move beyond installing solar, mini-grids, W2E systems, EV charging infrastructure, and energy-efficiency upgrades and begin structuring the carbon value behind every project.
Stressing that the support that the organisation provides includes: System deployment; accreditation and verification frameworks; carbon market readiness and digital baselining and monitoring tools, he stated that these capabilities are missing across most organisations.
Besides, the expert explained that the organisation supports federal and state institutions to establish robust compliance systems; renewable energy architecture, among others.
“Our aim is to help government agencies build a climate economy that is investor-credible, institutionally stable, and globally interoperable,” he emphasised.
To him, many developers, mini-grid operators, and SME-focused providers are solving the power crisis but not preparing for the carbon finance opportunity worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
To this end, Ogunnowo stated that the organisation strengthens bankability and proposal quality; blended finance readiness; access to development finance institutions and global impact investors, among others.
“Nigeria’s next competitive advantage lies not only in generating clean power but in measuring, certifying, and monetising the carbon savings behind it. If Nigeria’s ministries, regulators, and institutions across the energy and environmental sector work collectively and intentionally, the country can realistically unlock over N1 trillion in annual carbon revenue-a transformational opportunity for national development, job creation, foreign-exchange generation, and sustainable growth,” he said.
He therefore made a clarion call to organisations ready to unlock the full financial and climate value of renewable energy, explaining that it is the right moment to engage.
A masters degree holder in Environmental Resources Management, before relocating to the United Kingdom, where he pursued advanced degrees, Ogunnowo serves as a visiting academic and associate, contributing to programmes at BPP University, London United Kingdom; Coventry University, United Kingdom and other select international institutions.
He’s the author of The Green Billionaire: Scaling Sustainable Wealth in Emerging Markets, and has delivered high-level thought leadership at national and global platforms, including the Decarbonisation Infrastructure in Nigeria Summit at the State House, Abuja.
Emmanuel Addeh
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