Africa Energies Summit in London: Africa Treated as Location only for Plunder -Oilwatch Africa Insists
By Ekemini Simon
Oilwatch Africa, a network that builds solidarity and promotes a common identity in thr peoples of the Global South has described the decision to hold the Africa Energies Summit in London as a clear statement that proves that Africa is treated only as a geographical location for plunder and exploitation of its people and resources.
The Africa Energies Summit is taking place in the United Kingdom, London from the 16th – 18th of May to discuss investment and development opportunities for the continent’s fast changing energy landscape.
In a statement released by Kome Odhomor, the Media and Communications Lead of the network on Wednesday and tagged “The paradox of London being at the center of the “Dash for Gas” – Africa Energies Summit”, Oilwatch Africa queried why Africa’s energy issues and projections for the future will be discussed in a different continent – outside the shores of Africa amidst the continent deep lack of access to clean, sustainable energy.
Quoting Nnimmo Bassey, the Director of HOMEF which is an organisation in the network, the statement said the choice of London has also historically been done with the connivance of elites lurking in the shadows of ‘development’.
The statement pointed out that a summit of that magnitude should take into account the true cost of the extractive industries’ activities on communities across the continent, instead of whitewashing its role in the extensive environmental upheaval.
The statement recommended that in the coming years, Africa must be poised to scale up on renewable infrastructure development and investment.
Referencing the International Energy Agency (IEA), the statement noted that Africa has 60% of the world’s best solar resources, but only 1% of solar generation capacity.
The statement added ” High level speakers from Somalia, Angola, The Gambia, Malawi, Liberia, Egypt and Ghana, amongst others, will be advocating for oil expansion on behalf of their governments, in partnership with oil and gas giants from Europe like BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies.
” Although Shell has recently signed a deal to sell its 30% stake in the Cambo Oilfield, it has not yet addressed its widespread and systemic pollution in Nigeria over the last sixty years.
“Polluters in this Summit are leaving onshore, nearshore and shallow waters, moving deep offshore, like in the case of Nigeria and leaving behind a trail of destruction with no consequence. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has warned that leaders in countries investing in fossil fuel infrastructure will leave behind a legacy of debt to be carried for generations to come.
“This mass scale onslaught driven by the greed and profiteering of the fossil fuels industry must be addressed with governments, consistent with limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 °C with no or limited temperature overshoot, in line with reductions assessed in the IPCC in its Sixth Assessment Report.”