Global Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) supply is set to reach record level from 2027, driven by new projects and expanded production in the U.S., Qatar, and key African producers such as Nigeria, Algeria and Morocco.

According to Bloomberg’s Global LNG Market Outlook 2030, global supply will reach 594 million tons by 2030—a 42 per cent increase from 2024—with a projected 15-million-ton oversupply in international markets.

While geopolitical risks and potential project delays could alter this outlook, the prospect of a sustained LNG surplus raises a pressing question for Africa: how can the continent strengthen domestic gas value chains to shield itself from global market volatility?

Recent developments indicate progress toward a more integrated African gas economy.

Nigeria is expanding cross-border and power generation infrastructure as captured by the report.

Major pipeline projects include the $25 billion Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, spanning 13 West African states, the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline connecting Nigeria to Algeria, and the $1.5 billion Mozambique-Zambia pipeline announced in 2025.

Also, LNG terminals designed for domestic and regional access are under construction at Richards Bay in South Africa and the Port of Nador in Morocco. Ethiopia recently signed a landmark agreement to advance the Gas-by-Rail Economic Corridor Initiative, a 75,000-kilometre freight railway system set to deliver LNG to more than 40 sub-Saharan nations.

Senegal is developing a multi-phase gas network linking offshore production to power plants, industrial zones, and urban centres, while Ghana plans five multi-purpose petrochemical plants producing 90,000 barrels per day of chemicals, including fertilisers and lubricants.

A continental push toward gas-to-power is increasingly evident, backed by policy reforms and initiatives to expand electricity access.

The African Energy Chamber (AEC) outlook projects natural gas supplying 45 per cent of Africa’s power by 2050.

Countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Senegal, Ghana, and Mozambique have incorporated gas-to-power targets into national strategies, aiming to translate rising production into reliable electricity, cleaner cooking solutions, and broader economic growth.

With domestic gas demand increasing, infrastructure projects underway, and export markets becoming increasingly competitive, African Energy Week 2026 will serve as a strategic platform to reposition gas not merely as an export commodity but as a foundation for long-term energy security, industrial development, and inclusive growth across the continent

Africa’s natural gas production is on the rise, with multiple LNG projects under development across the continent.

Currently, North Africa—including Algeria and Morocco—accounts for two-thirds of Africa’s gas output, but the African Energy Chamber’s (AEC) State of African Energy 2026 Outlook projects this share falling to 40 per cent by 2035 as sub-Saharan production accelerates.

By 2050, sub-Saharan LNG supply could quadruple, while African gas demand is expected to grow 60 per cent, from 55 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2020 to 90 bcm.

Despite this growth, the majority of Africa’s gas continues to be exported. Limited pipeline networks, underdeveloped transmission systems, and inadequate processing and storage infrastructure prevent gas from reaching domestic markets.

Consequently, LNG exports remain the most viable monetisation route, supported by international offtake contracts and financing structures. Domestic infrastructure projects often face financing challenges, as patient capital, government backing, and credit enhancements are required—factors more readily available for export-focused LNG developments.

Analysts argue that closing this gap will require an infrastructure-led strategy linking production to domestic pipelines, power generation, and regional interconnections.

By Eddy Ochigbo

The Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) has reaffirmed its determination to increase the current from 56% to100% local content in Africa between now and next decade, to align with President Ahmed Tinubu’s “Nigeria First” policy, aimed at boosting local production and reducing dependence on imports in critical sectors of national economy.

Director Corporate Services NCDMB, Dr Abdulmalik Halilu who drop the hint during the week at a capacity building workshop for media stakeholders in Abuja, disclosed that NCDMB, was in good stead to attain 100% Local content in less than no time due to impactful steps being taken by the board.

Innovative steps being by the board, be said, were put in place under the leadership of Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe. While hinging the milestones attained by the board on the establishment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Development Content Act (NOGICD) – a sole agency of the federal government responsible for driving Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry – Halilu urged Oil and Gas Correspondents to place high premium on the core operations of NCDMB, rather than their day to day reportage of policy matters.

The media capacity building workshop themed: The Role of Media and Communications in Sustaining Nigerian Content Development”, challenged the media to deploy its expertise and professionalism to boost Nigeria’s sustained campaign in championing local content development in Africa.

“The media should to do more in the reportage of activities of the board by moving from reporting policy matters, and throw more light on core operations of the Nigerian content performance in the oil and gas industry”, he volunteered.

Meanwhile, NCDMB”s move is to ensure that for every N100 spent in the industry by operators and service companies, N56 is now retained in-country in terms of value addition local assets, goods, expertise to target 70 per cent local content by 2027. The workshop stressed the need for the media to interrogate the board’s activities and keep Nigerians abreast of the ongoing silent revolution in nation’s local content trajectory.

On his part, Dr Obinna Ezeobi, General Manager, Corporate Services, reiterated that the Nigerian content has become so widespread the world over that a good number of African countries are now seeking ways to optimise value from their oil and gas resources, turning to Nigeria’s local implementation as a case study.

Earlier, Mr Azubuike Ishiekwene, Editor-in-Chief of Leadership Newspapers, who delivered a paper on why “Good Journalism is not Enough: Creating Sustainable Income from your Content in Digital Age”, maintained that good journalism is no longer in vogue because of the collapse of traditional newsroom revenue and the under payment and casualisation of Journalists, especially beat reporters. He reasoned that the Journalist as knowledge worker, a trusted interpreter, public educator and a market signaler must live above board because digital age did kill journalism, it killed dependency.

By and large, the media capacity building workshop, among things touched on:

• Formulation and implementation of policies and monitoring its socioeconomic impact;
• Provision of the economic and social capital, necessary for the growth of industries; and
• Provision of enabling business environment to support production and consumption of goods and services by local supply chain.

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board said its Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme, established to boost local manufacturing through shared infrastructure and embedded power solutions, would be inaugurated in 2026.

Abdulmalik Halilu, spokesman for NCDMB, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while presenting an overview of the Board’s mandate and achievements at a capacity-building workshop for the media.

NCDMB established the NOGAPS with the primary aim of domiciling and domesticating oil and gas activities in-country by facilitating local manufacturing.

The scheme is a key part of the NCDMB’s 10-year Strategic Roadmap to increase Nigerian content in the industry to 70 per cent by 2027.

Halilu said eight oil and gas industrial parks, covering Bayelsa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Delta, Ondo, Abia, and Edo, were being established.

“NOGAPS in Bayelsa and Cross River states are at 90 per cent completion and due for commissioning in 2026,’’ he said

Mr Halilu said the parks would provide infrastructure and services plots for manufacturing outfits, adding that its local content policy had evolved into a powerful tool for industrialisation, job creation and sustainable economic growth in the sector.

He said local content was designed to stop capital flight and reposition the oil and gas industry as a catalyst for national development.

According to him, exporting oil and gas services outside Nigeria amounted to exporting jobs, capital and industrialisation opportunities, a situation the Federal Government deliberately moved to reverse through local content policies.

He said the success of early local content initiatives led to the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, which institutionalised the policy and insulated it from political changes.

“The philosophy of local content is simple: what can be competitively produced in Nigeria should be produced in Nigeria, without compromising standards, pricing or project timelines,” Halilu said.

He explained that the NOGICD Act assigns NCDMB two core responsibilities, namely building indigenous capacity and enforcing compliance with the Act, which contains schedules and nearly 300 performance targets.

Highlighting achievements, he cited the Nigeria LNG Train 7 project as a major success story, with over 93 per cent Nigerian workforce participation, engagement of 1,400 vendors, and significant domiciliation of fabrication, engineering and manufacturing activities.

He said capacities developed for oil and gas projects now serve other sectors such as power and construction, reinforcing the sector’s multiplier effect on the economy.

On financing, he said NCDMB had deployed funds from the Nigerian Content Development Fund through intervention programmes, including single-digit interest loans for indigenous companies, asset-acquisition financing, and working capital support introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Halilu also said that NCDMB had fully automated its processes, eliminating physical visits for certifications and approvals, and placing the Board among Nigeria’s top-performing agencies in ease-of-doing-business rankings.