US Government to invest $175 billion into gas and power industry in nine African countries

• 5 years ago (2018-07-27)
• David Flin

Africa 302 Gas 370

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The US Agency for International Development has announced an initiative to invest $175 billion to add 16,000 MW of gas-fired power in nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.

Rick Perry, US Secretary of Energy, said: “A key ingredient in Africa’s energy mix is, and will continue to be, clean natural gas. Natural gas and LNG projects have the potential to generate essential electricity quickly and at reasonable prices.”

Supported by the US Government, ExxonMobil, Eni, and GE will invest in gas power projects in Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania. Perry said that these countries were selected due to their large populations, higher levels of national wealth, and because they have local gas resources or LNG import projects. He said: “On a realistic and practical level, to achieve national and regional self-sufficiency through regional interdependence, the commercial fundamentals of the gas and gas-to-power sector in each country needs to be robust and reliable on a sustainable, long-term basis. The energy sectors of many West African countries have not yet proven to meet these criteria.”