Nigerian businessman Kola Karim urged accelerated investment in cross-border trade infrastructure, warning that Africa cannot realize its multitrillion-dollar market potential without robust logistics networks. The Shoreline Group chairman made the call shortly after securing $500 million in Qatari backing to boost domestic crude output.

Karim made the remarks at the Unstoppable Africa 2026 conference in New York, the flagship event of the Global Africa Business Initiative. He appeared on a panel with Tom Gitogo, CEO of Britam Holdings, and Qahir Dhanani, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group. Chigozirim Bodart, chief of staff at the U.N. Global Compact, moderated the discussion.

Infrastructure key to trade

“We need to energize logistics corridors and infrastructure that can move goods and services to each other,” Karim said during the session, which examined how private-sector leadership can accelerate implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The agreement covers a market valued at about $3.4 trillion, according to the conference discussion.

The session was convened on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly by the U.N. Global Compact’s Africa Business Leaders Coalition. Karim’s comments came as Shoreline Natural Resources, the Lagos-based indigenous exploration and production company, moves to deploy fresh capital toward drilling on OML 30, one of Nigeria’s onshore oil assets.

$500 million for OML 30

Shoreline Natural Resources secured a $500 million Islamic financing facility from Qatar Islamic Bank to fund a major drilling program on OML 30. The Shariah-compliant Murabaha facility is intended to support new wells as the company targets production of more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day from the asset by the end of 2027.

The financing is significant because drilling provides the mechanism for converting OML 30’s resource base into additional producing wells. Industry estimates have previously put output from the asset at roughly 45,000 to 70,000 barrels per day, leaving a substantial gap to Shoreline’s target. Existing flow stations, pipelines and access to the Forcados terminal could support higher volumes.

Shoreline expands beyond Nigeria

The latest financing builds on Karim’s broader expansion in energy and industrial services. In January 2024, Shoreline Natural Resources acquired Arkad Engineering and Construction, giving Karim’s group an established platform for pursuing major energy projects beyond Nigeria and widening its exposure across Africa’s oil and gas industry.

That strategy gained further momentum this year when Arkad, alongside Egypt’s PETROJET, secured a $1 billion contract to develop Algeria’s Hassi Bir Rkaiz field. The award is the largest commercial success to emerge from Shoreline’s acquisition of Arkad and underscores Karim’s push to build an energy and industrial group with operations extending beyond Nigeria.