Algeria’s state energy group Sonelgaz has signed two memorandums of understanding with Senegal’s national electricity company Senelec, extending a continental expansion that already covers Mali, Niger, Cameroon, Benin and Mauritania.
The agreements, sealed in Algiers, open the way for Algerian engineering, equipment and training to enter the Senegalese market.
Algeria’s Energy and Renewable Energies Minister, Dr Mourad Adjal, met his Senegalese counterpart, El Hadji Abdourahmane Diouf, on Saturday 3 October. Talks centred on transferring Algerian know-how and supporting Senegal’s electricity and gas infrastructure.
Sonelgaz as the engine of Algeria’s energy diplomacy
The pattern is now familiar. Algeria no longer limits itself to exporting hydrocarbons; it exports its engineering. After building partnerships and infrastructure projects with Mali, Niger, Cameroon, Benin and Mauritania, Sonelgaz is turning to West Africa.
At the high-level meeting, Dr Adjal reaffirmed Algiers’ willingness to support Senegal across the entire value chain: from power generation to gas distribution, including the manufacture of electrical equipment and the training of managers.
Natural gas emerges as the core of cooperation with Senelec
Senegal, on the verge of joining the small club of gas-producing nations, is looking for experienced partners to develop its resources. That is where Sonelgaz’s expertise becomes a major asset. Discussions focused largely on generating electricity from natural gas, a field in which Algeria excels.
That drive to pool skills materialised in the signing of two memorandums of understanding between Sonelgaz and Senelec (Senegal’s national electricity company). The agreements cover:
- Skills transfer and technical assistance;
- Manufacturing and marketing of electrical equipment;
- Development of energy infrastructure;
- Strengthening of electrical interconnection.
Senegal bets on a ‘reliable partner’
For Dakar, the choice of Algeria is no accident. Senegalese minister El Hadji Abdourahmane Diouf called Algeria a “reliable partner on which Senegal will rely in the next stage”. Praising Algerian expertise, he recalled that energy remains the strategic engine of his country’s development.
The alliance fits squarely into a vision of mutually beneficial South-South cooperation. By leaning on a continental champion like Sonelgaz, Senegal hopes to accelerate its energy independence while benefiting from optimised development costs.
A government-level agreement expected in Dakar in December
Sonelgaz’s Senegalese push is only in its early stages. The fruitful meeting in Algiers lays the groundwork for an even broader political and economic partnership. Both countries have already set a date: a comprehensive government agreement in the field of energy and renewable energies will be signed in Dakar in early December.
With this new deployment, Sonelgaz confirms its ambition to become the undisputed leader in electricity and gas on the African continent, consolidating Algeria’s position as a regional energy power.