Faith Nyasuguta
As Europe takes steps to shrink imports of Russian gas, the leaders of the continent are now looking to Africa as an alternative energy supplier.
So far, new deals have been signed with Algeria, Angola, Congo, Nigeria, and others are said to be on the way.
This past week, Senegalese President 🇸🇳 Macky Sall while welcoming German Chancellor 🇩🇪 Olaf Scholz, mentioned that his nation was “ready to work” on supplying liquid natural gas (LNG) to Europe, but that “first we need to be supported in our participation under better conditions than those currently offered by our partners.”
For years, Senegal has been believed to have huge deposits of natural gas along its border with Mauritania.
The newly discovered interest by Europe is great news for African energy producers who have endured years of low prices, and a pandemic that crippled demand.
However, many African gas-rich nations, with the exception of Algeria, face capacity problems and will not readily satisfy Europe’s demand.
In 2020, Algeria was Africa’s top natural gas exporter followed by Nigeria, Egypt, and Libya, according to Statista.
Other producers including Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo lack the requisite infrastructure to enable them to increase production.
In recent days, a European ban on financing new oil and gas projects in Africa has also locked up capital for aspiring producers such as Uganda.
With Europe’s current scramble to secure its energy supply, questions are being asked if a ban on financing fossil fuel projects will be reversed.
East Africa business highlights:
- PORT WARS: DAR ES SALAAM OUTSMARTING MOMBASA
Twelve years ago, Kenya was rocked by deadly post-election turmoil. The violence also blocked rail and road transport to Uganda and Rwanda, stopping imports of fuel and essential goods.
As another general election looms in East Africa’s largest economy, importers and shippers are diverting business from Kenya’s Mombasa port to Dar es Salaam of Tanzania.
Both ports have invested in expanding their facilities in recent years and are giving incentives to importers in a bid to outcompete each other.
2. ETHIOPIA FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) GROWS 18%
Ethiopia brushed aside pandemic, conflict in its Tigray area, and sanctions to record $2.4 billion in foreign direct investment in the first nine months of the current financial year.
Much of the investment went to manufacturing according to Addis Ababa’s national investment authority.
