Energy Minister emphasizes natural gas as catalyst for Africa’s industrialization

Energy Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh says natural gas is the main resource to help support large-scale industrialization in Africa in order to bridge the poverty gap that has existed between Africa and the rest of the world.

In Dr. Prempeh’s view, the ability of African governments to contribute financially to the development of its natural gas resources is critical to sustaining its viability. He said it is important for Africa to start mobilizing funds through local financial institutions or collaborations among ourselves.

The Energy Minister made these assertions at the Gas Day session of the Nigeria International Energy Summit on Thursday, February 29, 2024.

“We can leverage the African Energy Bank, which Ghana is supporting and whose headquarters Ghana expects to host, to raise competitive financing for the faster development of natural gas projects and the development of infrastructure for research and development, and for processing, transportation, and transformation of our natural resources,” he said.

The Minister, who is also Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, said Africa is home to some of the largest gas reserves, and Nigeria leads the way with over 200 trillion cubic feet of gas. Others with significant reserves in the Sub-Saharan region include Mozambique, Angola, Senegal, Cameroon. Ghana is also accelerating exploration and development for more production of its oil and gas resources sustainably.

“In the next decade, we can expect to see continued investment in natural gas infrastructure such as pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, power plants, and petrochemical establishments on the continent, which present a unique opportunity for Africa to take charge of its own destiny,” he added.

He continued, “As indicated earlier, infrastructure development is key in fulfilling the massive untapped potential the resource presents. There has to be adequate infrastructure for processing, storage, transportation, and transformation of natural gas resources to meet the market demands.

In this regard, the initiative of Dangote to build the 650,000 barrels per day oil refinery and a petrochemical complex here in Nigeria is laudable. In Ghana, we recently commissioned a hundred barrels per day oil refinery to increase our refining capacity and have plans in place to further increase our refining capacity in the near future. Other ongoing projects include Tema LNG Terminal and the Tema City Gate and Gas Distribution Pipeline Network.”

Ghana, he said, looks forward to Nigeria as its main supplier of cheap and reliable gas to complement those of our domestic sources and the West African Gas Pipeline.

“The execution of the Nigeria to Morocco pipeline will also stimulate the patronage of gas and expand the gas market on the Continent, especially in countries along the pipeline route,” he adds.

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