Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, during the virtual launch of a the natural gas policy brief

Harness Africa’s Natural Gas For Africans – Dr Opoku Prempeh to African Energy Ministers

On October 19, 2021, 12:39 PM

The Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has asked policymakers, particularly Energy ministers in Africa to harness the natural gas resource in their various countries for the benefit of their people.

Dr Prempeh made this call when he joined his counterparts from the continent during a virtual launch of a policy brief on natural gas in the African energy landscape on Monday, October 18, under the auspices of the African Energy Commission.

He noted that the use of natural gas presented a significant opportunity for Africa to bridge the poverty gap by leveraging on its abundance on the continent, and its low cost and efficiency relative to other fossil sources.

He also indicated that Ghana’s Gas Master Plan recognises the power sector as the most important sector to channel our natural gas resources, as currently over 70% of our fuel requirement for power generation is met by natural gas.

“As the world moves towards creating universal access to electricity as well as transitioning from carbon-intensive energy sources to low carbon sources, natural gas presents itself as the fuel of choice. In Ghana, for example, investments made between 2019 and 2020 alone will contribute to CO2 emission reductions of about 11,000,000 metric tons in the next decade” he said

The Minister continued, and said, “recognising the fact that natural gas is instrumental to the growth of the Ghanaian economy as well as our sister countries, Ghana is positioning itself to be the hub of natural gas supply in the West African Sub-Region”

“Our Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal located in Tema, has the potential to supply up to 400 MMscfd of gas, which is enough to meet our domestic requirement as well supply to other neighbouring countries in the subregion” he further stressed.

The natural gas in the African Energy Landscape is the first-in-series of policy briefs that will be produced this year to shed light on the energy situation of Africa, using data collected by African Energy Commission (AFREC) from the AU Member States.

The policy briefs aim to enhance understanding on specific fuels, their production processes, trade and use while serving as a framework instrument to policymakers across all African countries.

Story By Francis Ntow