Nigeria, Nov. 6 -- The commander of the US Africa Command, Dagvin Anderson, is bringing energy cooperation into a wider effort to connect security with investment and economic opportunity, with Kenya and Nigeria among the countries he has identified as interested in constructive American engagement.

During an engagement following the Africa Strategic Dialogue in Washington on 29 October, Mr Anderson, a general, explained why a military command with reduced resources was working more closely with civilian institutions.

"And so, we can't just focus on the security piece," he said. "We have to look at how we bridge into that stability and investment."

Energy entered that discussion through both everyday needs and longer-term infrastructur...