AFRICA – The African Coalition for Trade & Investment in Natural Gas (ACTING), a non-profit initiative jointly managed with Hawilti Ltd and The African Energy Chamber, has announced the release and publication of its inaugural gas report.
By gathering several datasets in a single resource, ACTING’s “State of Play: African Gas” report combines the most up-to-date and accurate information on sub-Saharan African gas markets. It provides the most comprehensive resource on sub-Saharan Africa’s natural gas markets gas to power.
It notably reveals that the growth of Africa’s natural gas consumption and production is set to be one of the world’s fastest until 2040 on the back of new LNG projects and strong policy support for natural gas consumption across industries, transport and power.
The ACTING report highlights that the continent remains one the lowest consumer of gas globally. This is as several African nations seek to increase the consumption and monetisation of natural gas across their economies.
Low gas penetration rates in sub-Saharan Africa contrast with the vast amount of natural gas reserves found onshore and offshore from Senegal to Mozambique and whose development could lift millions out of poverty and provide the resource the continent needs to industrialise.
“The inaugural report of ACTING lays the foundation for the kind of work and research the Coalition wishes the grow with its institutional and industry partners,” said Mickael Vogel, director at Hawilti and coordinator of ACTING.
“Information and data on gas markets in sub-Saharan Africa is extremely scarce, which negatively affects the ability of investors and developers to make proper deals and sound decisions. Now is the time for all stakeholders to come together and build the kind of trust and confidence the market needs to benefit the continent at large.”
Chief amongst the report’s finding is the upcoming growth in gas-to-power generation capacity across sub-Saharan Africa.
ACTING expects a 55% growth in grid-connected gas-to-power generation by 2025 on the back of greenfield and brownfield projects and the conversation of coal and diesel power plants to gas in Senegal and South Africa.
West Africa is the region expected to see the biggest gas-to-power capacity addition by 2025, with at least 750MW in Senegal, 643MW in Côte d’Ivoire, 450MW in Nigeria, 200MW in Ghana, 150MW in Benin and 65MW in Togo.
ACTING acts as the central platform advocating for natural gas across Africa and leverages on the core strengths of both the Chamber and Hawilti to promote natural gas as a transition fuel, attract capital in the African gas value-chain and engage stakeholders and societies on the benefits of natural gas consumption.
The Coalition, between Chamber and Hawilti, focuses on all the benefits that a broader adoption of natural gas can bring to Africans, especially when it comes to securing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, creating jobs and supporting industrialization.
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