African Countries’ Interest In Fossil Fuels Spikes

There has been renewed interest in fossil fuels in Africa, since Russia cut off gas to most of Europe in response to sanctions imposed on it by the bloc after its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, LEADERSHIP has learn

Africa is on the menu again, but this time, it is a renewed scramble for oil and gas by Global North Governments like France, Germany, the United States, and Italy, the director of programmes, Corporate Accountability & Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Philip Jakpor, told LEADERSHIP.

Beyond the climate crisis that has engulfed most of Africa and the Global South at large heightened by fossil fuel extractions, Jakpor said, the new scramble for fossil fuels will only lead to economic, social, and political underdevelopment by provoking conflict and displacement of African peoples.

The director of programmes disclosed that, in the last six months, there has been a disturbing rollback of commitments by mostly European countries to their climate commitments at COP26 and earlier, adding that, in a poll of 1,299 voters by public broadcaster, ZDF between September 6-8, most Germans want their nuclear power plants kept up and running in response to Russia’s halt on gas supplies to that country.

“Germany, which had claimed it wants to become carbon neutral by 2045 and will generate all its electricity from renewable sources by 2035 now wants to discard a plan to shutdown nuclear power plants.

“In the September 2022 poll more than half of German voters called on the Economy Minister Robert Habeck to keep the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants in operation to help secure energy supply.

“Habeck, a member of the Greens party, subsequently announced that two of the plants would be kept in reserve and only the third would be shut down at the end of 2022, prompting widespread criticism by climate activists,” he revealed.

But there are more developments in the reverse, Jakpor stated, adding that, in May 2022, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, met with Senegalese president, Macky Sall with the thrust of discussions centering on that country supplying Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) to Europe.

He added that, “the gas will come from Senegal’s substantial deposits along its border with Mauritania. Italy has also engaged Algeria to keep supplying extra volumes of gas beyond 2022. It is also discussing with Angola, Egypt, and the Republic of Congo about massive deals.”

The flurry of discussions on how to shore up Europe’s oil and gas stocks through these so-called investments is not good news for Africa, Jakpor warned, while disclosing that, “as the scramble grows, foreign military presence to protect fossil fuels investments on the continent is also growing in the guise of countering terrorism.

“Djibouti has agreed to host American naval and drone bases to address the crisis in the Horn of Africa. France also has a military base in Djibouti from where Spanish and German troops operate. The US is also working with different groups in the Sahel. Russia’s covert Wagner Group is also in Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR).”

He said that in the last few months many countries on the African continent have experienced more unusual occurrences attributable to climate change

With these examples and more, it’s clear that the agenda that the Global North will be pursuing at the Climate talks in Egypt, will not address the climate burdens that Africa currently carries, Jakpor said, while urging African governments who are attending COP27 in Egypt to unite against the Global North’s fossil fuel appetite and false solutions that will derail and delay real climate solutions.