West Africa still relies on global reference markets for pricing, benchmarks that often fail to reflect the region's specific supply chain realities.\n\nAfrica’s top crude oil producer partners with S&amp;P Global to launch West African fuel price benchmark Nigeria is collaborating with S&amp;P Global Commodity Insights to create regional pricing benchmarks for petroleum products in West Africa. This initiative aims to address the mismatch in current global market references. The country is currently responsible for 31% of West Africa's refined fuel supply.\n\nNigeria has partnered with S&amp;P Global Commodity Insights to develop a regional pricing benchmark for refined petroleum products in West Africa.\n\nUnveiled at the West African Refined Fuel Conference in Abuja, the initiative seeks to create localised price indices for petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).\n\nDespite being a major oil and gas producer and an emerging refining hub, West Africa still relies on global reference markets for pricing, benchmarks that often fail to reflect the region's specific supply chain realities, said Farouk Ahmed, head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.\n\nThe new partnership aims to improve price transparency, attract investment, and boost energy security across the region, <a>Reuters</a> reported.\n\nAfrica’s top crude oil producer, Nigeria, is pushing ahead with reforms in its downstream petroleum sector as it seeks to become a regional fuel trading hub.\n\nCentral to this ambition is the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos, Africa’s largest single-train refinery, which began operations last year with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd). The refinery is now undergoing an upgrade to expand its capacity to <a>700,000 bpd</a> by the end of 2025.\n\nCurrently, Nigeria supplies around 31% of the refined fuel traded in West Africa, a share expected to grow as new refining projects come online and existing capacity is expanded.\n\nDebates over the way African economies are evaluated on the global stage are growing louder.\n\nFor instance, growing scrutiny over how international institutions assess Africa’s investment climate and financial health has prompted the African Union to plan the launch of its own continental credit rating agency next year.\n\nThe move aims to challenge what it sees as unfair and inconsistent ratings assigned by the dominant global agencies, Moody’s, S&amp;P, and Fitch, which together control roughly 95% of the global credit rating market.\n\nAfrican leaders and policymakers have long argued that these agencies tend to downgrade African countries quickly but are slow to issue upgrades, even when conditions improve.\n\nThese developments show a broader push by African countries to take greater ownership of how their economies are evaluated on the global stage.

Africa’s top crude oil producer partners with S&P Global to launch West African fuel price benchmark

Nigeria partners with S&P Global to create regional fuel price benchmarks for West Africa, aiming to address global market references that fail to reflect regional supply chain realities. The initiative supports price transparency, investment, and energy security. Nigeria's Dangote Refinery is expanding capacity, and the African Union plans a continental credit rating agency to challenge global rating agencies.