Gas for Africa 2025 Report Calls for Urgent Scale-Up of Natural Gas to Drive Industrial Growth and Power the Continent’s Next Stage of Development

Hawilti and the International Gas Union (IGU) have released the second edition of the Gas for Africa Report, offering a comprehensive assessment of the continent’s natural gas landscape at a time of rising global energy demand and intensifying pressure on African countries to secure affordable, reliable and lower-emission energy systems.

The report finds that Africa holds over 17,000 bcm of proven natural gas reserves, yet monetises only a fraction of this resource. In 2024, the continent produced roughly 246 bcm of marketed natural gas, compared to more than 1,300 bcm in North America and over 875 bcm in the CIS region. Consumption was even lower at 178 bcm, a stark reminder that Africa remains a marginal player in global gas use despite holding one of the world’s most substantial reserve bases.

This imbalance reflects a deeper structural challenge: Africa combines the world’s lowest per-capita energy consumption with some of the highest demographic, industrial and urbanisation growth rates. This has made the continent a critical zone for future energy demand. The report notes that Africa’s energy deficit extends far beyond household electrification or clean cooking access. Industries, mines, transport fleets and increasingly digital infrastructure all face underpowered and unreliable systems. Per-capita electricity consumption has declined over the past 20 years, revealing a long-running stagnation in productive energy use.

At the heart of this challenge is Africa’s over-reliance on gas-to-power, which accounts for nearly half of all gas demand, unlike global norms where demand is distributed among power, industrial, residential and Commercial off-takers. This dependence on financially distressed power markets limits gas monetisation and weakens the commercial case for large-scale infrastructure. By contrast, regions such as Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria demonstrate how gas can fuel fertilisers, petrochemicals, cement, steel and other industrial value chains, offering models for replication across Angola, Senegal, Congo and other emerging markets.

From an environmental standpoint, natural gas provides a pragmatic pathway to reduce emissions while supporting development goals. It displaces coal and diesel, stabilises renewable-heavy grids, reduces reliance on biomass in household cooking, and builds infrastructure compatible with future low-carbon fuels like hydrogen, biomethane and synthetic gases.

Amel Grabsi, Regional Director at Hawilti and Gas for Africa emphasised that the real challenge is not resource availability but utilisation:

“Africa’s gas story is not a resource challenge, it is a utilisation challenge. Our analysis shows that despite holding over 17,000 bcm of proven reserves, the continent consumes barely 178 bcm annually, with almost half of that going into a power sector that remains financially distressed. The opportunity now is to redesign energy systems around productive use in industry, transport, mining, digital infrastructure and unlock gas as an engine of jobs, competitiveness and long-term economic resilience.”

The Gas for Africa 2025 Report outlines eight key principles – updated from the 2023 Gas for Africa Report – that can help develop and maximise the benefits of Gas resources for African economies. These include futureproofing gas projects by design, financial innovation, enabling a good business climate, regionalisation, cluster and ecosystem investing, gradual scaling, reformed electricity markets, and pricing emissions.

The report concludes that Africa stands at a decisive moment. Without coordinated policy action, investment in midstream and downstream systems, and reforms that unlock industrial demand, much of the continent’s natural gas resource risks remaining stranded. But with the right frameworks, natural gas can serve as a foundation for energy access, industrialisation, clean cooking, regional integration and long-term economic resilience.

To access the full Gas for Africa 2025 Report