From left to right: Luqman Mamudu, CEO, Transtech Industrial Consulting & former DG, NADDC; Chinedu Oguegbu, Managing Director, OMAA; Nobuhle Renqe, Chairman of the AAAM Skills Development & Head of SSA Business Development, Hyundai Motor MEA; and Olayinka Rufai, Strategic Project Advisor, Pi-CNG & EV — during the closing-day panel at the 2026 West Africa Automotive Show in Lagos.
The conversation around CNG and EV adoption in Nigeria has moved past whether the transition should happen. The harder question now is how fast it can happen — and what's standing in the way.
That question framed the closing-day panel at the 2026 West Africa Automotive Show (WAAS) in Lagos, where I joined fellow panelists Luqman Mamudu, Nobuhle Renqe and Olayinka Rufai for a session titled "Preparing For Change: Is West Africa Ready For EV & CNG Adoption?"
📰 Read this story on Daily Trust: Stakeholders list challenges to CNG, EV adoption at WAAS 2026 →
Chinedu had opened the day earlier with a technical presentation on CNG transition readiness and the regional infrastructure picture — you can read that here: CNG Transition Readiness and Infrastructure in West Africa (and download the full WAAS 2026 deck as a PDF).
The closing panel was where the numbers met the operators. The takeaway was direct: the resource base is there, the policy direction is right, but five barriers are still slowing the shift to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) — financing, policy inconsistency, a shortage of skilled technicians, weak infrastructure, and affordability. (Full report on Daily Trust.)
Nigeria's gas advantage is not in doubt
Speaking on the panel, I reminded the room of something easy to forget when the debate gets tangled in logistics: Nigeria isn't short on the raw resource needed for this transition.
"We are blessed with about 206 TCF of proven gas reserves in Nigeria. We have almost 100 times more gas than crude oil. In Africa, Nigeria is number one and globally Nigeria is number nine."
With roughly 206 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, Nigeria is the largest gas holder on the continent and the ninth largest globally — a position confirmed by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). That endowment is the foundation any serious CNG transition can be built on — and it's why OMAA has spent years building local capacity around CNG commercial buses, dual-fuel pickups, and electric bus assembly, including Nigeria's first locally assembled dual-fuel bus. You can see the current line-up across our F Series, U Series, H Series and T Series.
Progress on CNG infrastructure — but stations are still not enough
Earlier gas transition programmes existed long before the Presidential CNG Initiative (Pi-CNG), but the current administration has accelerated investment and infrastructure deployment. Nigeria has now passed 100,000 CNG-powered vehicles on the road, with a Federal Government target of one million by 2027.
Over 75 CNG stations are already operational across several states — a meaningful jump from where the country was just a few years ago. But the gap is real:
"There have been several programmes before PCNGI. Today, many stations even in Benin, Edo State are dispensing gas. We still do not have enough stations but we are making progress."
For OMAA, the practical implication is clear: while electric buses will become highly competitive over time, CNG commercial buses remain the most realistic transition vehicle for heavy-duty transport and logistics in Nigeria today. As I put it on the panel: "For heavy prime movers, CNG makes the most sense and we need to benefit from it." It's a view consistent with global guidance from the International Energy Agency, which positions natural gas as a credible transition fuel for heavy-duty applications.
What Hyundai MEA, Pi-CNG and former NADDC see from their seats
The strength of the WAAS panel was that it pulled together views from across the value chain:
- Nobuhle Renqe, Head of SSA Business Development at Hyundai Motor MEA and Chair of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) Skills Development Working Group, made the case that Africa's transition cannot adopt a "one-size-fits-all" model — and that upskilling local technicians is the foundation everything else rests on. "We are ready, but we need to upskill our people for the transition."
- Olayinka Rufai, Strategic Project Advisor at Pi-CNG & EV (representing Executive Chairman Ismaeel Ahmed), confirmed that Nigeria has laid solid foundations but flagged financing for fleet operators as the single biggest blocker — with borrowing costs running 20–30% making the unit economics of conversion painful for transport companies.
- Luqman Mamudu, former DG of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and Chairman of the WAAS Conference, closed the session with a call for a dedicated financing scheme purpose-built to drive mass adoption of CNG and EV mobility.
The 5 barriers to CNG and EV adoption in Nigeria
Across the panel, a consistent picture emerged:
1. Financing for fleet operators. With borrowing costs running between 20% and 30%, the maths simply doesn't work for many logistics and transport companies converting to CNG.
2. Vehicle affordability and auto credit. Dr. Femi Eguaikhide, Chairman of the Auto and Allied Sector Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), highlighted that the absence of affordable auto credit continues to push middle-income earners toward imported used vehicles. "Elsewhere, auto credit is available at single-digit interest rates, but in Nigeria the lowest you can get is about 26 to 30 per cent. That is prohibitive."
3. Policy consistency. Long-term private investment depends on predictable, stable policy signals — particularly from the NADDC and Pi-CNG, which OMAA has previously partnered with on technician training.
4. Shortage of skilled CNG and EV technicians. Cleaner mobility doesn't just need vehicles — it needs the workforce to convert, service and maintain them safely at scale. It's part of why OMAA continues to invest in careers and technical training across the value chain.
5. Refuelling and charging infrastructure. CNG refuelling and EV charging networks need to grow faster than vehicle adoption, not the other way around. OMAA's certified service network is part of building that capacity on the aftersales side.
Where OMAA stands on Nigeria's clean mobility transition
The conversation at WAAS 2026 reflects exactly the work OMAA has been doing on the ground — building factory-fitted CNG commercial buses, dual-fuel minibuses and electric bus platforms, supporting CNG conversions, and pushing for the local capacity Nigeria needs to manufacture, not just import, the next generation of clean-mobility solutions. From our assembly facility in Umunya, Anambra State, we now serve customers across Nigeria and Ghana through a growing partner network. Read more about OMAA or explore our vehicles.
The natural gas is here. The policy momentum is here. The remaining work is in financing models that meet operators where they are, in training the technicians who will keep these fleets running, and in expanding refuelling infrastructure ahead of demand rather than behind it.
The transition isn't a question of if. The conversation at WAAS 2026 made clear it's a question of how quickly we can unblock the path.
📰 Read this story on Daily Trust: Stakeholders list challenges to CNG, EV adoption at WAAS 2026 →
Frequently asked questions
As of early 2026, Pi-CNG confirmed that more than 100,000 vehicles and over 4,600 tricycles in Nigeria now run on CNG — up from around 11,000 in 2023. The Federal Government targets one million CNG-powered vehicles by 2027.
At WAAS 2026, over 75 CNG stations are operational across several states, with more in development under the Pi-CNG rollout.
Based on current infrastructure and fuel economics, CNG buses remain the most practical transition vehicle for heavy-duty logistics and intercity routes. Electric buses are expected to become highly competitive over time, particularly for fixed urban routes and depot-charged city operations.
WAAS 2026 stakeholders identified five: high financing costs (20–30% interest rates), vehicle affordability, policy inconsistency, a shortage of skilled technicians, and inadequate refuelling/charging infrastructure.
Read more from OMAA
- The technical deep-dive: CNG Transition Readiness and Infrastructure in West Africa — Chinedu Oguegbu's full WAAS 2026 presentation.
- Download the deck: WAAS 2026 PDF presentation →
- More on the OMAA blog: Visit the newsroom →
OMAA designs, assembles and services CNG, dual-fuel and electric commercial vehicles for the West African market — including CNG city buses, CNG minibuses, dual-fuel pickups and electric bus platforms — from our facility in Umunya, Anambra State. Get in touch or partner with us.