- A new report showed that Nigeria led global BRI construction activity in 2025, driven by a $20 billion contract for the Ogidigben Gas Revolution Industrial Park.
- The GRIP project elevated Nigeria’s role in China’s energy strategy and boosted BRI construction inflows from $1.8 billion in 2024 to $24.6 billion in 2025.
Nigeria has emerged as the world’s largest recipient of construction contracts under China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2025, driven by the Ogidigben Gas Revolution Industrial Park in Delta State. The finding comes from a new report by Christoph Nedopil of Griffith University.
According to the report, the Ogidigben Gas Industrial Park secured an estimated $20 billion contract awarded to China National Chemical Engineering. The deal pushed Nigeria’s BRI construction inflows from $1.8 billion in 2024 to $24.6 billion in 2025.
The project transformed Nigeria into the leading BRI construction destination globally in 2025. Moreover, the $24.6 billion total represents a 13-fold increase from the previous year. The Ogidigben development accounted for most of that growth.
Globally, BRI construction contracts reached $128.4 billion in 2025, up 81 per cent year on year. Total BRI engagement reached about $213.5 billion across roughly 350 deals. Energy-related engagement climbed to $93.9 billion, with fossil fuel projects dominating, although green energy also recorded new highs.
Nigeria’s cumulative energy-related engagement with China now stands at $28 billion since 2013. Only Pakistan and Saudi Arabia recorded higher totals.
The surge underscores Nigeria’s strategic importance to China’s long-term energy and industrial strategy in Africa and the global south. Africa as a whole registered a sharp spike in BRI construction activity. BRI engagement on the continent reached $61.2 billion, a 283 percent jump from 2024.
Analysts link the surge to new trade incentives and tariff structures that make African countries attractive for export-oriented Chinese manufacturing. Meanwhile, global FDI trends moved in the opposite direction. Global foreign direct investment fell 3 percent in the first half of 2025. Greenfield renewable investment declined from $147 billion in the first half of 2024 to $83 billion in the first half of 2025. Africa’s non-BRI FDI also fell by 42 percent.
Under these conditions, Nigeria’s breakthrough places it at the center of what analysts describe as China’s final wave of mega-scale overseas infrastructure investment.
China National Chemical Engineering International Corporation reaffirmed support for the project in January 2025. Company President Li Zhenyi said CNCEC would provide restructuring, funding and partnerships with Nigerian stakeholders. He said the company is committed to contributing to Nigeria’s industrialisation and economic growth.
However, the project has faced setbacks over the years. Long-standing tensions between Ijaw and Itsekiri communities disrupted access to the site and deterred investors. Militant groups once demanded a large payment before allowing federal officials to proceed with groundbreaking activities. Saudi investors later withdrew, citing insecurity and local power dynamics.
The Federal Government revived the initiative in 2022 by reconstituting the Steering Committee and Technical Working Group. Those reforms helped restore investor confidence and paved the way for Chinese participation.
The Ogidigben Gas Industrial Park spans 2,700 hectares. It will host fertilizer, methanol, petrochemical and aluminium industries under a tax-free zone structure. The project could create around 250,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The site lies roughly 60 kilometres from Warri and one kilometre from Chevron Nigeria’s base, with access to more than 18 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves. The park will also connect to the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline System to support distribution and gas monetisation.
If fully implemented, the project could anchor Nigeria’s gas-based industrial policy and support large-scale job creation in the Niger Delta.