Africa cannot be held to ransom over fossil fuels

• Published date: 06 January 2022
• Author: NJ Ayuk
• Publication title: Mercury

To prevent catastrophic climate change, environmental organisations, financial bodies and governments across Europe and North America have insisted that developing nations, including those in Africa, must immediately transition from fossil fuel production and usage to renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydrogen

Mind you, the majority of those making these demands are based in industrialised nations that were built on fossil fuels – oil and gas fuelled their economic engines – yet they are unwilling to allow less developed nations to use fossil fuels to the same end.

Even more troubling, the African countries these groups are taking aim at have a wealth of natural resources under their feet, resources that can be used to deliver reliable power, to grow economies, and to build a better future.

These are a few of the reasons that the Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers' Organisation, Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim, has rightly pointed out that it would be a mistake for Africans to abandon their abundant petroleum resources. Turning our backs on approximately 130 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves and over 15 trillion standard cubic metres of natural gas to pursue expensive, unreliable energy sources would not be a wise course of action.

The African Energy Chamber has stated, over and over, that Africa still needs its oil and gas sector. And, we’ve tried to explain the important role that international oil companies (IOCs), foreign governments, and investment institutions play in building the kind of oil and gas sector that will truly benefit Africans.

But the calls to stop financing African oil and gas have only grown louder and more insistent. Most recently, during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, more than 20 countries and financial institutions pledged to stop public financing for overseas fossil fuel projects.

For those of us who care about Africa’s oil and gas industry, it’s time to face facts: We need to find a way to save it ourselves. The African Energy Chamber is calling upon African states and the private sector to establish energy banks focused on funding African energy projects.

The idea is to create funding sources for all types of African energy – from oil and gas exploration to solar and hydrogen operations – that will not depend on foreign support. No more begging for aid that only would be awarded on the condition that we abandon fossil fuels.

We can do this, and we must...