The Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber, NJ Ayuk, has restated that natural gas is set to play a pivotal role in Africa’s energy future, even as global markets move toward a surplus in liquefied natural gas (LNG).
According to the African Energy Chamber’s 2026 Outlook Report: The State of African Energy, gas is the only fossil fuel expected to grow its share of global primary energy demand.
African gas consumption alone is projected to rise 60% by 2050 — a surge driven not by the north, but by sub-Saharan Africa, which holds more than 70% of the continent’s remaining recoverable reserves. The report said the transformative potential of this resource is clear.
Africa can unlock growth through two powerful avenues: export revenue and domestic industrial development. But realising this promise requires confronting infrastructure gaps, market access challenges, pricing constraints, and the shift from associated to stand-alone (“dry”) gas production.
Today, two-thirds of Africa’s gas comes from North Africa — led by Algeria, Egypt and Libya — where gas already dominates power generation. That equation is beginning to change. The report forecasts that North Africa’s share will fall below 40 per cent by 2035 as production accelerates elsewhere.
“Nigeria is expected to spearhead this shift. Since declaring its “Decade of Gas” in 2021, it has expanded commercialization rapidly and currently produces more than half of sub-Saharan Africa’s output. It is now joined by rising producers including Mozambique, Tanzania, Senegal, Mauritania, Angola and Congo.
Flagship LNG developments — Coral Sul in Mozambique, the Greater Tortue project between Senegal and Mauritania, and Congo LNG — have introduced new export flows since 2022.
“Africa’s gas demand is also rising internally. Gross annual consumption is expected to jump from roughly 55 billion cubic meters (Bcm) in 2020 to more than 90 Bcm by 2050, driven by residential, industrial and power-sector needs.
Sub-Saharan Africa alone holds more than 400 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of recoverable gas — more than enough to satisfy long-term demand,” the report said.
