APPO Lays the Roadmap for the Attainment of Africa’s Energy Objectives

By Ajong Mbapndah L [caption id="attachment_108688" align="alignnone" width="700"] Give the people energy not just to light their homes but to do cottage industries and you will be shocked at the quantum leap in the national Gross Domestic Products,” says Dr. Farouk[/caption] Africa is ready and open for partnerships to transform its energy landscape but under different terms, says APPO Secretary General Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim. Addressing a press conference at the ongoing World Petroleum Congress in Calgary, Canada, Dr Omar Farouk harped on the energy challenges in Africa and the immense investment potential that it represents. Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim was forceful in defending Africa’s position on fossil fuels. Dr Ibrahim started by saying that APPO is still guided by its own 2015 resolution which called upon African nations to embark on an energy transition. The transition sees the continent move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy in line with the global paradigm shift in energy production. The transition also enables African countries signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement to adhere to the Agreement's main tenets. For a smooth energy transition to occur, Dr Ibrahim said that there are key challenges that need to be addressed. Addressing these challenges puts Africa on the right trajectory towards its energy objectives. Namely, these key challenges include funding issues, technology and expertise challenges as well as markets and energy infrastructure problems. [caption id="attachment_108712" align="alignnone" width="860"] APPO is working on producing a blueprint for the integration of the African continent by establishing cross-border energy infrastructure, says Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim[/caption] For all the above-stated challenges, Dr Ibrahim said Africa must abandon "the silo mentality" which has characterised operations in the energy industry. He said for long individual African nations have been working individually with no knowledge sharing and consultations taking place between and among countries. Moreover, he also said it's important that Africa embraces local solutions. "The solution to Africa’s problems should come from Africa, not our continuous dependence on some external powers," Dr Ibrahim said. In as much as the future entails transitioning to clean, green and renewable energy, Dr Ibrahim also boldly stated that for Africa, there will be a balance between the move to renewable energy and the use of fossil fuels. He said the continent will rely on oil and gas to eradicate energy poverty on the continent as "Africa... has over 900 million of its 1.4 billion people living without access to any form of modern energy for cooking or domestic heating. These people use wood, sticks, cow dung and other unhealthy sources of energy to cook and heat their homes, causing millions of deaths from respiratory illnesses, especially among infants, children and the aged." Dr Ibrahim said Africa will not be coerced into abandoning the exploration of oil and gas at once pursuant to the needs of external powers. He said given Africa's "peculiar situation in terms of socio-economic development, and the fact that the problems of climate change were caused, not by us but by the economically advanced countries of the world, using fossil fuels, calling us to join the same speedy train to net-zero is unfair and punitive." Moreover, Dr Ibrahim said despite the promise of incentives by climate activists, many external powers have failed to meet their commitments to wholesomely drop fossil fuels and embrace green energy. There is thus a need for this to change before Africa can be called upon to fully embrace net zero policies. With regards to the problems that may affect the smooth energy transition and Africa's quest to eradicate energy poverty, Dr Ibrahim came up with solutions that need to be adopted. On funding problems, Dr Ibrahim said, "APPO and Afreximbank have reached an advanced stage in the preparations to establish the Africa Energy Bank. The AEB shall be an independent supra-national financial institution whose main objective is to close the gap resulting from the decision of Western financiers of the industry to discontinue funding the industry, especially in Africa. The bank shall be open to all investors who share our vision that Africa shall need to use all forms of available energy for the foreseeable future to eliminate the huge poverty on the continent." [caption id="attachment_108713" align="alignnone" width="1080"] APPO Secretary Dr Farouk and Ambassador Gabriel Aduda of the Nigerian Petroleum Ministry enthused the public on the importance of energy and the logic behind Africa’s positions on global energy debates during the Africa Energy Business Breakfast and the Africa Energy Futures Forum[/caption] When it comes to the technology and expertise challenge, Dr Ibrahim proposed that an APPO Secretariat team undertake "an assessment tour of oil and gas research, development, innovation and training institutions in APPO Member countries, to establish the professional level of these institutions." He added saying "Given the huge financial requirements for establishing high-class oil and gas research and training institutions, APPO Member Countries need not all establish these institutions. Instead, each country can establish institutions for training oil and gas technicians as well as middle-level personnel. For the highly skilled sectors, we plan to have regional centres of excellence in the various sectors of the industry." On the issue of markets and energy infrastructure, Dr Ibrahim said, "APPO is working on producing a blueprint for the integration of the African continent by establishing cross-border energy infrastructure. Unfortunately, most of the energy infrastructure that exists on the continent today, were established to serve extra-Africa interests. That is why our pipelines run from the fields to the sea ports for export. The time has come for us to route these pipelines from areas of plenty to areas of need within Africa." Rounding up Dr Ibrahim said Africa's poverty has been perpetuated by myths and misconceptions such as the assertions that "Africans do not have purchasing power". He said that APPO fully believes that the poverty circle in Africa can be tamed and broken. The first step to doing this according to Dr Ibrahim is to allow everyone to have access to reliable and stable energy "Energy is the biggest catalyst to economic development". The energy given to the people should not just be for lights "but to do cottage industries and you will be shocked at the quantum leap in the national Gross Domestic Products," Dr Ibrahim said.