Africa is losing billions of dollars in potential revenue due to flaring its natural gas, a practice that is entrenched due to infrastructure shortfalls and outdated economic incentives. Nmesoma Okereke, Sales Manager and Flare Gas Recovery Specialist at Neuman & Esser, highlighted the need for modern, scalable gas monetisation strategies to address this paradox, at Invest in African Energy (IAE) 2025.
Speaking at a presentation on “Flare Gas Utilisation: The Importance of Mid-Scale Integrated Gas Commercialisation Solutions,” Nmesoma Okereke, Sales Manager and Flare Gas Recovery Specialist at Neuman & Esser, underscored the urgency of addressing this paradox through modern, scalable gas monetisation strategies.
“The most important reason for gas flaring is a lack of infrastructure, but also cost inefficiencies,” said Okereke. “In the past, it was more economically feasible to flare gas than develop or commercialise the gas. That is no longer the case with the rise of innovative gas solutions.”
Three of the world’s top nine gas-flaring countries are in Africa, said Okereke, collectively responsible for an estimated 60 per cent of the continent’s gas flaring. Nigeria alone flared roughly 193 billion cubic feet of gas in 2024, while producing 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. That volume of wasted gas represents a market value of $1 billion – at a time when around 40 per cent of the country’s population lacks access to electricity.
Nigeria’s case study illustrates the dual challenge of wasted resources and unmet energy demand. According to Okereke, Nigeria needs five times its current domestic gas supply to reach its goal of 30 GW of power by 2030.
With flaring becoming less economically justifiable due to emerging technologies and modular gas utilisation options, Okereke emphasised the need to shift toward mid-scale integrated solutions that can bridge the infrastructure gap and bring gas to market more quickly and efficiently.