ZIMBABWE could emerge as a new natural gas market in Africa this decade following successful natural gas exploration led by Invictus Energy in the onshore Cabora Bassa Basin, a new report reveals.
According to the Hawilti and International Gas Union (IGU), in the second edition of the Gas for Africa Report, Africa holds over 17 000bcm (billion cubic metres) of proven natural gas reserves, yet monetises only a fraction of this resource.
In 2025, a landmark deal was sealed between Al Mansour Holdings and Invictus under which the Qatari investment firm will provide up to US$500 million to finance the natural gas project, with a potential impact on energy security for Zimbabwe and the rest of the Sadc community.
The report said, in 2024, the continent produced roughly 246bcm of marketed natural gas, compared to more than 1 300bcm in North America and over 875bcm in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region.
The CIS region is a regional intergovernmental organisation of former Soviet republics formed after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, with 10 members States being Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
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“Consumption was even lower at 178bcm, a stark reminder that Africa remains a marginal player in global gas use despite holding one of the world’s most substantial reserve bases,” the report read.
“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.
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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,” the report read.
“This dependence on financially-distressed power markets limits gas monetisation and weakens the commercial case for large-scale infrastructure.”
Amel Grabsi, regional director at Hawilti and Gas for Africa, said the real challenge was not resource availability, but utilisation.
The report said new discoveries had expanded African natural gas frontiers, adding that Africa’s natural gas reserves continued to grow steadily over the past two decades against a persisting energy deficit.
“To date, natural gas has been discovered in 24 countries, with Zimbabwe becoming the most recent addition, confirming the continent’s strategic role in the global natural gas landscape,” the report noted.
“From established hubs in North and West Africa to newer basins in the south and east, Africa’s natural gas geography is broadening — a reflection of renewed exploration activity and rising interest in the continents untapped hydrocarbon potential.
“Currently, Africa has some 15-17 trillion cubic metres of proven natural gas reserves, accounting for over 8% of the world’s total.”
It said since 2020, more recent discoveries across Angola, Namibia or Cote d’Ivoire are shifting the centre of gravity of African natural gas once again.
“Entirely new natural gas provinces are also emerging, such as Namibia’s Orange Basin and Zimbabwe’s Cabora Bassa, where early drilling success is opening fresh frontiers for upstream development of both associated and non-associated natural gas,” it said.
“These developments present a unique opportunity to enable domestic energy transformation, support regional energy security and potentially expand export capacity.”
The report, however, indicated that much of Africa’s natural gas potential is still under-reported in official reserve figures, due in large part to project delays, regulatory uncertainty and the absence of final investment decisions.
It further indicated that southern Africa’s natural gas future balances promise and uncertainty. -newda
