Birame Soulèye Diop, Minister of Energy, Petroleum&Mines of Senegal, announced that the next MSGBC Oil, Gas&Power Conference and Exhibition will take place from December 1-3, 2026, in Dakar, Senegal. The announcement was made during a fireside chat at the 2025 edition of the event, with Minister Diop underscoring the need to continue investing in regional energy.
“MSGBC Oil, Gas&Power 2026 will build on the success of this year’s event and provide a platform to accelerate investment and regional collaboration in the energy sector,” said Minister Diop. “We invite investors, partners and stakeholders to join us in shaping the future of energy in the MSGBC region.”
During the discussion, Minister Diop also highlighted the importance of local content and national capacity in developing Senegal’s energy sector.
“Local content must be understood as both a legal and economic foundation – a legal entity capable of participating in commercial activity and contributing expertise,” he said. “It also refers to individual human resources: financial experts, geological engineers, petrochemical and electromechanical specialists – the backbone of national capacity.”
The Minister also spoke about the role of the national private sector in nation-building. “Our states are right to affirm that nation-building relies on developing a strong national private sector. We are not exclusivist; we do not exclude anyone,” he said. “When we invite partners, we ask them to show openness and the willingness to transfer skills and share knowledge.”
On the topic of domestic gas usage and energy access, Minister Diop emphasized the urgent need to provide affordable, clean energy. “Everyone knows that in Africa, clean cooking methods are still far from widespread. In remote villages, women still cook with firewood, while children rely on kerosene lanterns to study,” Minister Diop said. “Gas must be a transition energy for achieving universal energy access. If all African gas-producing countries used their full capacity, their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions would be only 0.5%.”
Minister Diop also called for regional collaboration to leverage Africa’s comparative advantages. “We must build together around shared interests: electricity through West African Power Pool, gas through the Nigeria–Morocco pipeline and other strategic corridors. No one can dictate our path; we will build our projects, like Yakaar-Teranga, with Senegalese priorities first,” he said.
Minister Diop concluded by underlining the vision for long-term sustainable development, stating that “the future of Senegal’s energy sector depends on strong local content, strategic partnerships and regional cooperation. We are building our continent’s energy future together.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital&Power.
