The African Development Bank (AfDB) focuses a lot on financing gas-to-power projects, highlighted AfDB chief gas officer Charles Nyirahuku, on Thursday. He was participating in a panel discussion at the Africa Energy Week 2025 conference, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

This focus was because gas projects could be used for development and wider jobs creation, as well as to produce energy. “For us, it’s very very critical to unlock gas for domestic utilisation.”

Regarding upstream gas projects, he explained that the AfDB looked at its role as a development bank. How could it cover project risk? It also looked at how it could support African governments to create conducive environments for investment in their countries.

“What is important is to have the energy market right,” he explained. Utilities were important, but so were regulators and governments. The usual current business model was that independent power producers were dependent on a single client – the national electricity utility. Which meant that the model was dependent on the creditworthiness of the utilities. The utilities needed to be able to independently set commercially viable tariffs. And they also needed to be able to collect those tariffs. Otherwise the entire system risked collapse.

The good news was that utilities across the continent were improving. We're also seeing regional cooperation between them.

He pointed out that, on the financial side, utilities could work with development banks, including the AfDB, to improve the bankability of projects. This would ensure clear liquidity across the entire value chain.

Concerning the availability of funding for gas development projects, including cross-border pipelines, he noted that infrastructure was the backbone of these projects. “When you look at the [gas] industry in general, there’s no shortage of capital,” he observed. “These companies have generated a lot of revenues. How do you ensure this capital is directed at bankable projects?”

What was needed were strong feasibility studies into markets, resources and technology options. Thus, was the plan to pump gas through pipelines or use it to generate electricity locally and then send that down transmission lines? “We need a clear offtake to anchor these projects.” There was also a need to address bankability and regulatory frameworks.