OPINION: Senegal President Macky Sall will spend the last week of August on vacation in France, reflecting on the myriad challenges facing his country as it catapults into the front ranks of African oil and gas producers.

Sall needs to regain his composure to prevent his upstream dream from unravelling.

BP and Kosmos Energy are battling to remove barriers to shipping first gas by 2022 from its Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project, Total has struck oil on fiercely contested deep-water acreage while the flagship SNE oil development remains mired in arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).