Photo: Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, the Secretary General of African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO)
By Chidiebere Ugwu
Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, the Secretary General of African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) on Monday stated that International Oil Companies (IOCs) are shying away from investing in Africa only because of the consequences from their home countries.
Dr. Ibrahim dropped the hint in his key note address at the opening ceremony of the ongoing 16th Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE), a three day annual international conference with the theme: ‘Energy Evolution, Transition and Reform: Prospects for African Economies’ holding in Abuja.
The three-day conference, hosted by the PTDF, was organised by the NAEE – an affiliate of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE).
The APPO Secretary General said that today’s climate activism is driven more by the quest for energy security by the developed countries than by concerns about the environment.
“A very good demonstration of this reality is the response of today’s champions of energy transition to the use of fossil fuels in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. The very people that announced an end to funding oil and gas projects especially in Africa, ostensibly because they are considered dirty fuels and dangerous to humanity, sent high powered delegations to our countries offering to fund oil and gas projects that for decades were begging for investors. Of course, the condition was that the oil and gas should go to the investors. In other words, Africa is encouraged to produce oil and gas only if they are meant for export to developed countries to ameliorate their special circumstances due to the war, but the production of that same oil and gas is dangerous to humanity if it is meant to be burnt in Africa.
“Put differently, oil and gas are harmful today because they are foreign controlled. If the West was the place endowed with so much fossil fuels, the emphasis would have been on developing and perfecting the technology to make fossil fuels environmentally friendly, not on rushing to end fossil fuel use.
“It is interesting to note that these countries that have used fossil fuels to grow their economies, have largely succeeded in moving their economies from relying on industrial manufacturing for their wealth creation, to reliance on services, the manufacture of knowledge and Artificial realization that shale cannot compete with conventional crude, that made these countries to switch focus to some other source of energy” he said.
Earlier, Dr. Bello Aliyu Gusau, the Executive Secretary of Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) reiterated that the Fund is never tired of partnering with stakeholders in finding solutions for better energy solutions in the country.
Represented by Mr Jide Adebulehin, the PTDF boss noted that it has literally supported various universities in the country, stressing that apart from sending Nigerians abroad for capacity building, the Fund has developed facilities across the nation through partnership with local universities.
In her remarks, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, NAEE President, said: ‘Nigeria has no alternative to transition and that transition and include the supply of enough energy to power the industrial revolution that is needed to put us on the path of true economic and sustainable development’.
