We are going to strive to keep our narrative that Africa deserves to produce energy in a sustainable and better way, says NJ Ayuk
From African Energy Week 2023, it was another resounding message on the firm resolution of Africa to stay the course in the pursuit of solutions that mirror the local challenges, realities, and potentials in addressing the energy stakes for the continent.
In its third year, the AEW 23 exceeded expectations on many counts. From the number of delegates to the caliber of energy stakeholders present, the quality of debates and the overall level of organization, there were palpable signs of progress for the African Energy Chamber led crusade to make energy poverty history by 2030.
“This year’s AEW was by far the best and most consequential. I say that from the standpoint of a few measurements of this conference. First, the number of delegates and the sizes of key and powerful delegations is unmatched. It’s an indication that the very consistent messages of the organizers, the Africa Energy Chamber and its international partners has resonated deeply into the energy sectors across the globe. Second, the key messages of the primary sponsor, the Africa Energy Chamber, which seemed possibly contrarian in the past, have become the common language about the best ways for Africa to utilize its energy resources. Finally, without naming them, categories stakeholders in the global energy ecosystem were historically timid about attending AEW. There were no substantive categories of energy sector stakeholders absent from this year’s events,” said Jude Kearney Managing Partner of the Global Corporate and Legal Advisory Firm ASAFO & CO Int'l.
The assessment of Jude Kearney encapsulates the popular fervor that graced a conference week with solid panel discussions, a series of billion-dollar deals, and several exciting networking functions that laid the foundation for new partnerships and collaborations. Under the theme “The African Energy Renaissance: Prioritizing Energy Poverty, People, the Planet, Industrialization and Free Markets ,”high-level executives and government representatives from both the African and global energy space united in Cape Town under a mandate to make energy poverty history.
Speaking at the AEW, former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria noted that the developed nations used oil and gas to attain their development aspirations and turned back to condemn after achieving their targets.
“They said we cannot use our oil and gas resources. But these are the same resources they used to develop their economies. They want to keep us perpetually underdeveloped. We reject it,” said the elder statesman whose presence added pomp to the event.
“The developed nations need to grant us energy justice. We in Africa need energy justice to decide how and when to implement our independent energy transition plans,” Obasanjo charged.
When you use what is available to [developed nations], which is now available to us, and yet state there will be no investment for us to be able to explore and exploit for our development, you show that you want us to stay in poverty. Energy security, energy sustainability and energy stability have to be ensured for growth and justice, Obasanjo said.
In Namibia, the Government is working alongside foreign partners to develop a variety of energy resources. According to President Hage Geingob, “We pursue these efforts concurrently. Access to reliable and quality energy supply is the lifeblood of economic development of any country. Energy drives industrialization, boosts productivity and economic growth. It is crucial for us to reach the goals of Agenda 63 – the Africa we want.”
“For the African energy renaissance to be meaningful, Africa should be permitted to explore and exploit its natural endowments for the good of the continent. It should not be for the export to other countries but the benefit of African people,” said the Namibian President who was later honoured with the 2023 AEC Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his exceptional leadership, innovation, and impact in Africa.
Home to over 125 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, and 620 trillion cubic feet of gas, and large-scale hydrocarbon projects on the horizon, Africa sees strong potential in these resources to meet its development needs. Speaking on behalf of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, stated that, “Energy is central to the socioeconomic transformation of any society. Africa needs to take deliberate steps to ensure energy security. You cannot have a constructive discussion without underlying the importance of energy security.”
Deal Signings featured prominently at AEW 2023
For Minister Ssentamu, developing oil and gas will not only enable African countries to develop but use hydrocarbon-generated revenue to grow other industries such as renewables. Minister Ssentamu stated that, “We are cognizant of the ongoing debate of climate change. However, Uganda is lucky in that its energy mix is dominated by renewables. Our strategy, therefore, is to continue developing renewables while developing oil and gas, which will help provide the much-needed revenue to improve the life of our people.”
Opening AEW 2023, NJ Ayuk Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber declared that Africa’s time was now. According to NJ Ayuk, African countries need to explore and produce their energy resources, including crude oil, gas, and coal in order to generate adequate revenue for development. We need revenue for sustainable development and implementation of our energy transition plans, he said.
“This is bigger than a conference: it is a movement. We are seeing new discoveries in countries no one would have thought: in Namibia, in South Africa and across the continent. That tells you, Africa’s time is now. As we have discussions about the transition, we mustn’t forget that it is about people. Select Africa, choose Africa, invest in Africa. Be bold and don’t back down on this industry,” Ayuk stated.
For Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General of the African Petroleum Organization-APPO, Africa has always moved with the flow despite it having its own energy issues which are distinct from those experienced by other global nations. He said that despite contributing an insignificant number of megatons of emissions into the atmosphere in the past 150 years, Africa owing to its herd mentality has been forced to embrace and adopt energy policies dictated to it by the global superpowers – the same nations whose industrialisation polices of the past 150 years have greatly contributed to climate change issues.
Referencing the upcoming COP28, Dr Farouk said, “As we prepare to go to Dubai for COP28, it is important that we go with our home-grown agenda, not to continue with a herd mentality that has largely characterised our negotiation process”. Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim challenged African leaders to be more discerning and critical of advisers and foreign experts who influence policy direction in African governments.
Representing the Biden Administration, Joshua Volz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa, Middle East, Europe & Eurasia at the U.S. Department of Energy, emphasized the value of clean energy. “Africa is the future for our energy transition. We acknowledge that the African continent has contributed little to that climate change and are facing the worst impacts from it. With clean energy, we have the solutions that will curb climate change,” he said.
African countries must unite to industrialize now, says Sergio Pugliese President of the Angola Chapter of the African Energy Chamber. Pugliese questioned why the continent's growth ambition should be compromised at the expense of people who had harmed the environment. The development interests, priorities, and prosperity of Africa in challenging times should not be impeded by actors most responsible for the ecological issues facing the world, Pugliese said.
Africans need to discuss and develop their own doctrine openly, not behind closed doors. What’s interesting here is that everyone is represented, including African countries, multinational corporations, international and African private sectors. OPEC is present, as is the European Union and the USA, said Congo’s Hydrocarbons Minister Bruno Jean Richard Itoua.
“We have faith in this initiative because it is led by young Africans who believe in Africa and are committed to its growth. We can collaborate with others. At a time when Africa is grappling with new ideas, such as the need to transition away from hydrocarbons due to concerns about carbon emissions, Africa needs to have a dialogue,” Minister Itoua said in his support of the African Energy Week.
This type of dialogue in the energy sector is crucial for us to align our views and determine the way forward because energy has a direct impact on climate change. It’s important that these discussions take place at all levels. And for next year, yes count on us for the African Energy Week, we will be there, Bruno Jean Richard Itoua said.
The African Energy Week remains the confluence of where the now, tomorrow and the future of Africa’s power brokers in the energy sector will sit to continue discussing, proposing, and doing the right transactions that will be to the benefit of this continent, said Kola Karim, Managing Director (MD) of power solutions company Shoreline Energy International. No one is going to do it for us. We as Africans are the only ones who can sit around the table and decide the future of this continent; for good or for worse. We have tried centuries of other people deciding; maybe we should try our century now and add value to the continent and maybe the difference will be clear, said Kola Karim.
Justice demands that we too should develop, we should industrialize, says Obasanjo
“I think the Africa Energy Week 2023 edition was really, really important for Africa. We, the delegates, the government officials, the private sector, and the international community made it very clear that Africa has a right to develop its natural resources for the benefit of its people,’ said NJ Ayuk.
We welcome a transition, but it must be a just transition and a just energy transition for Africa has to deal with 600 million people without electricity, 900 million without clean, clean cooking technologies, says Ayuk. Going further, the African Energy Chamber Executive Chairman said Africa cannot meet its sustainable development goals without that and without addressing these issues, but also that before we get to net zero, we need to get first to net energy poverty, because climate change and energy poverty are two sides of the same coin.
“Both energy development and energy growth were at the center of African Energy Week, where you saw new deals being signed for the development of energy, especially LNG, in Congo. We saw the development of new gas projects in Angola, Mozambique, Senegal, and South Africa. So, Africans and the companies were saying that we must develop energy in a low carbon, cleaner, better, sustainable way to ensure that our people have jobs, have opportunity, and we create millions of dollars in revenue for governments,” Ayuk said.
We also must build an enabling environment so that governments don't have to pick winners and losers, Ayuk said, beaming with optimism at the outcome of AEW 2023 while pledging to do more and encouraging participants to do more for the development of Africa.
“As long as the Chamber is here, this industry will be inclusive. We deserve to make this better for you. We will be back next year: we intend to be better. We are going to strive to keep our narrative, that Africa deserves to produce energy in a sustainable and better way. It is about welcoming all forms of energy and being able to make energy poverty history. We will not back down: we will continue driving growth, ensuring that this discussion stays in Africa. Select Africa, let’s go bigger and better in 2024,” Ayuk concluded.
