The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) delivered a presentation titled “Natural Gas for Africa’s Sustainable Development” at the 4th G20 Energy Transition Working Group (ETWG) meeting, held under the South African G20 Presidency in Durban.
The GECF emphasised that Africa’s sustainable development depends on two parallel processes: a substantial addition of energy supply to meet rising demand, and a transition toward cleaner and more efficient systems aligned with national circumstances, resource endowments, and respective capabilities. The Forum underscored that without energy addition, transition efforts will remain socially and economically unviable.
Drawing on data from the GECF Global Gas Outlook, the presentation demonstrated that Africa’s energy consumption must at least triple by 2050 to reach basic human development thresholds. It also highlighted that energy poverty in Africa is both quantitative and qualitative, requiring modern, reliable, and affordable energy systems to drive industrialisation, digitalisation, and social progress.
Natural gas was presented as a cornerstone of Africa’s energy future — a dispatchable, low-emission, and versatile fuel capable of supporting both energy security and decarbonisation. The GECF projected that Africa’s natural gas demand will more than double by 2050, driven by power generation, industrial production, and clean cooking. Gas was also recognised as essential for food security, with about 70% of Africa’s fertiliser production depending on natural gas feedstock.
The presentation further noted that gas will provide a stable foundation for renewables integration and grid reliability in emerging power systems, while also powering the exponential growth of data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure, which require continuous, high-quality electricity. Moreover, natural gas provides the heat and processing energy needed for the extraction and refinement of critical minerals and materials used in renewable and battery manufacturing, reaffirming its role as a strategic partner to renewables across the energy value chain.
On the supply side, the Forum observed that Africa will record the largest global annual growth rate in gas output, adding around 250 billion cubic metres annually by 2050. This growth will require USD 1 trillion in cumulative investment by midcentury, with nearly 90% in the upstream segment. The GECF stressed that the key challenges are not geological but institutional, namely, the need for infrastructure scale-up, affordable financing, and predictable regulation.
The Forum also highlighted the importance of cross-border gas and LPG interconnectivity, regional cooperation, and decentralised solutions such as small-scale LNG, CNG, and virtual pipelines to expand access and strengthen market integration.
In conclusion, the GECF reaffirmed that the G20 can play a decisive role by supporting long-term, affordable financing, de-risking infrastructure investment, and facilitating technology transfer and efficiency improvement. It emphasised that Africa’s energy transition must generate tangible socio-economic value, through local capacity building, upskilling, and technology partnership, ensuring that people remain at the centre of Africa’s energy future.
The GECF remains committed to working with the G20, the African Union, and all partners to ensure that Africa’s energy transition is economically rational, socially inclusive, and technically feasible, in line with the Algiers Declaration and African Union Agenda 2063.