The discovery of natural gas resources across the African continent has inspired debate on how such resources should be developed and best utilized. In several African countries, the discovery of commercial quantities of natural gas reserves has led governments to explore a number of strategies, investments, and policy directions. Two contrasting cases are that of Nigeria, which has pursued policies promoting domestic natural gas consumption and export, and Ghana, which has focused on encouraging sectoral-level domestic consumption. These divergent approaches have had immensely different impacts on the sector. This paper uses a case study methodology to identify and assess existing national approaches toward governance and market development. We consider the complex landscape for natural gas in Nigeria, Egypt, and Ghana and offer insights for other similar emerging economies. The results provide a comparative framework to aid understanding of natural gas development in emerging economies. We conclude by highlighting areas of further work.

非洲大陆天然气资源的发现引发了关于如何开发和最佳利用这些资源的辩论。在一些非洲国家，商业数量的天然气储量的发现促使政府探索了许多战略、投资和政策方向。两个截然不同的案例是尼日利亚，该国奉行促进国内天然气消费和出口的政策，而加纳则侧重于鼓励部门层面的国内消费。这些不同的方法对该行业产生了截然不同的影响。本文使用案例研究方法来识别和评估现有的国家治理和市场发展方法。我们考虑了尼日利亚、埃及、和加纳，并为其他类似的新兴经济体提供见解。结果提供了一个比较框架，以帮助理解新兴经济体的天然气开发。最后，我们强调了进一步工作的领域。