The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has signed an agreement to grant $1.2 million Senegal’s Sovereign Fund for Strategic Investments (FONSIS). The grant is intended to finance studies related to the construction of a pipeline network by the Senegal Gas Network (SGN) company.
SGN was jointly created in February 2020 by Senegal’s national oil company Petrosen, the national utility company Senelec and FONSIS. Its goal is to create Senegal’s gas network to transport gas from production sites to places of use including power plants and various industries.
This grant will support SGN’s mission to accelerate the development and the monetization of natural gas in the country. According to Papa Demba Diallo, Director General of FONSIS, natural gas will be able to “lower the cost of electricity in order to develop the industrial sector and make businesses more competitive.”
Senegal’s government believes the construction of an efficient gas network is a strategic project for the country as it supports the presidential mandate to develop a local value chain in the oil and gas sector, with the long-term goal of benefitting the Senegalese people first and foremost.
According to USTDA Director of Operations, Todd Abrajano: “This agreement is a commitment by USTDA to work with our partners in Senegal, FONSIS, in particular, to develop and expand the country’s natural gas options”.
Senegal is set to become a major African natural gas producer from 2023, when the giant Grand Tortue Ahmeyim gas field, straddling the maritime border with Mauritania, is set to come online. Estimates say the field could contain up to 15 trillion cubic feet of gas.
