Infrastructure Pitch: Elumelu Backs KSh 1.95T ($15B) West African Pipeline Before SummitInfrastructure Pitch: Elumelu Backs KSh 1.95T ($15B) West African Pipeline Before Summit
Key Highlights
- Tony Elumelu, co-chair of the West Africa Integration and Investment Summit, is backing a proposed pipeline of infrastructure projects worth KSh 1.95T ($15B) for financiers to consider in Sierra Leone in November.
- Special Envoy Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella said 170 proposals were received and 26 projects from more than 10 countries, worth over KSh 1.30T ($10B), have been selected so far.
- The KSh 1.95T ($15B) figure is a target, not committed funding, and the plan is to pitch projects to UBA, Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation and Africa50.
Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu is backing a proposed pipeline of West African infrastructure projects worth KSh 1.95T ($15B), to be pitched to financiers at the inaugural West Africa Integration and Investment Summit in Sierra Leone in November.
The pipeline matters because it shows where regional infrastructure money may go, and who is steering it. The KSh 1.95T ($15B) figure is a target, not committed funding. Mr Elumelu disclosed the plan in an email to Bloomberg, reported on 15 October, according to Nairametrics.
What the pipeline would fund
Mr Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings, is co-chair of the summit, which Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio initiated and convenes. The plan is to identify viable projects across several West African countries and present them to financiers including United Bank for Africa (UBA), Afreximbank, the Africa Finance Corporation and Africa50.
The pipeline will focus on energy, trade, industrialisation, strategic minerals, agriculture and digital infrastructure. Special Envoy Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella said 170 proposals were received and 26 projects from more than 10 countries, worth over KSh 1.30T ($10B), were selected. "We expect that portfolio to reach $15 billion or more," he said.
The gas pipeline alongside it
Separate from the portfolio, the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline, estimated at KSh 3.25T ($25B), is backed by ECOWAS. It would carry gas from Nigeria through several West African countries to Morocco, with links to European markets. ECOWAS member states signed an intergovernmental agreement in Sierra Leone in July 2026 covering project management, regional coordination and investment mobilisation, according to the report.
Mr Elumelu's wider interests
Mr Elumelu's firms are also expanding in energy. As Mwenendo earlier reported, his firms now hold 21.07% of Seplat, after Heirs Energies bought 6 million shares on 30 September. Nairametrics estimated that the market value of his stakes in Seplat, UBA and Transnational Corporation rose by about 39.3% between June and September.
The summit is also a test of how African capital markets compete for attention. As Mwenendo earlier reported on how Dangote Cement lines up a London share sale, large West African deals are drawing funds from the same investors.
Readers should note that selection of a project for a pitch is not approval for finance. None of the reported projects has a named lender or a financing date, and the KSh 1.95T ($15B) total depends on proposals that are still being assembled.
In Summary
- Who is backing the plan?
- Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings and co-chair of the West Africa Integration and Investment Summit.
- What is proposed?
- A pipeline of infrastructure projects worth KSh 1.95T ($15B), which is a target not committed funding.
- When is the summit?
- November 2026, with the plan reported on 15 October.
- Where will it be held?
- Sierra Leone, convened by President Julius Maada Bio.
- Why does it matter?
- It shows where regional infrastructure money may be directed across energy, minerals, agriculture and digital.
- How will projects be financed?
- Selected projects will be pitched to UBA, Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation and Africa50.
