By Amadou SY
« At a time when several African countries are preparing to exploit their significant gas resources, the end of funding for the gas sector, under the pretext that gas is a fossil energy, without taking into account that gas is also and above all clean energy, would bear a fatal cost to our emerging economies. Blocking financing for the gas sector would add a great economic injustice to the climatic injustice Africa is already suffering more than any other continent. » This was the response of the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, to the desire of certain developed countries to stop funding fossil fuels.
While environmental issues are being raised, development is at the heart of the arguments for countries that have much to gain from the exploitation of oil and gas resources. As a major player in African finance, the African Development Bank has set the tone.
Blocking financing for the gas sector would add a great economic injustice to the climatic injustice Africa is already suffering more than any other continent
Just as Kenya was preparing to launch a coal fired power plant project to supply 1,095 megawatts of electricity to the east of the country, the AfDB decided to withdraw funding after an environmental court ruled that the project should be suspended. To make matters worse, African NGOs used Afreximbank’s general meeting to sound the alarm.
« These projects not only contribute to climate change, but also have serious negative impacts on local communities and ecosystems. Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with rural communities already facing the devastating effects of droughts, floods and extreme weather events. The continent is also suffering from an energy crisis, » they wrote in a press release, a copy of which we obtained. For them, Africa must turn decisively to renewable energy.
Real impact on outlook
At a time when many countries are pinning their hopes on revenues, abandoning fossil fuels would be quite a blow. In Senegal, for example, the expected revenue from the exploitation of hydrocarbons from the GTA and Sangomar projects is expected to total nearly 59.16 billion FCFA by 2023, and oil and gas resources are expected to bring in 327.28 billion FCFA by 2024, rising to 501 billion FCFA by 2025. Considered less polluting than other fuels, is natural gas a clean energy source? The idea is increasingly being put forward. According to energy specialist Ado Koffi, who attended the Afreximbank AGM, many believe that it can be considered less of a clean energy because it emits « only » 0.206 kg of CO2 per kilowatt-hour of energy supplied compared to petrol, diesel and paraffin. But the idea behind this is to help certain countries avoid a sudden transition.
Urgent solutions
Wahab Sylla, an economist and international energy efficiency consultant, says the stakes are real. And for him, it is necessary for the countries he sees as the « neo-oil producers » to play on two fronts. First, he recommends that they continue to negotiate with donors to get them to reconsider certain positions, particularly on gas. « It’s possible to make more concessions on gas, even if only for a few years, the time it takes for countries to make the most of their resources as they had planned, » he suggests. After all, he says, many countries have signed huge contracts and/or based many of their programs on the future benefits of these resources. « But it is also important for Africa to speak with one voice, » he stressed.
