Long-duration agreements with creditworthy domestic buyers are giving upstream developers the revenue visibility they need to move toward final investment decision (FID), and in several cases, offtake structures are proving more financeable than conventional export agreements.

The Exploration and Discovery Forum at Invest in African Energy (IAE) 2027 in Paris will host a session on the role of domestic and regional gas-to-power offtake in de-risking frontier offshore exploration. The session will convene operators, national oil companies, power-sector buyers and financiers around these commercial dynamics and explore the tools available to connect Africa's growing domestic demand to the cutting edge of its offshore development.

A Continental Pipeline of Gas-to-Power Projects Is Taking Shape

With more than 600 million Africans still living without reliable electricity, Africa requires an estimated 250 GW of new power capacity by 2030 to begin bridging the gap. As the continent's population grows, so will that demand, which is translating into bankable gas supply agreements in several frontier offshore jurisdictions.

Namibia's Kudu gas field is advancing toward development with a concept built around an 800 MW combined-cycle gas turbine and a phased generation plan. The initial 420 MW phase would reduce the country's reliance on electricity imports and could feed surplus capacity into the Southern African Power Pool, giving the project both a domestic anchor and a potential regional export market.

Kudu presents an illustrative example for delegates at IAE, thanks to the breadth of its bankability challenge. The project requires synchronization across the full value chain, from subsea pipeline and gas processing through to transmission infrastructure and a tariff structure that satisfies lenders. Each element involves a different class of counterparty, and bringing them into alignment is the kind of carefully structured engagement that IAE's program is built to support.

Senegal's Yakaar-Teranga field presents a similar picture at a larger resource scale. Petrosen is structuring the first phase of one of West Africa's largest deepwater gas discoveries, with estimated resources of more than 20 trillion cubic feet (tcf), around domestic gas-to-power and industrial supply. The financing framework is expected to rely on 15-to-20-year offtake contracts with creditworthy domestic buyers, designed to support project financing.

Further east, Tanzania's TPDC signed a gas sales agreement with TAQA Arabia and Africa50 in August 2026 for a domestic LNG facility, framing the deal as a key commercial milestone toward FID. Morocco's Tendrara development has advanced through 10-year take-or-pay agreements with Afriquia Gaz and state power company ONEE. In both cases, domestic demand is helping create a clearer route to market for upstream gas development, although project timelines continue to depend on wider financing and infrastructure requirements.

IAE 2027 Provides the Platform to Advance These Structures

Moving frontier gas projects from discovery to FID through domestic offtake requires direct engagement between upstream operators, power-sector buyers and the institutions that underwrite long-duration gas sales agreements. IAE 2027 is designed to facilitate that engagement at scale. The 2026 edition attracted more than 300 companies to Paris from over 50 countries and facilitated three major upstream deal signings across frontier markets. The 2027 program deepens that investment focus through a dedicated Business-to-Government (B2G) Investment Origination Day and interactive Investor Circles where live deals will be pitched and developed by industry stakeholders.

The Exploration and Discovery Forum's session on gas-to-power offtake sits within a broader program that connects the upstream and power-sector conversations. The Grid Convergence Forum will address cross-border wheeling and regional power trade on the same day, linking gas commercialization with the demand-side investment that creates bankable offtake in the first place. Invest in African Energy takes place in Paris, May 11–13, 2027.

Learn more about the event and register as a delegate at www.invest-africa-energy.com.