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Curse or blessing? Oil drilling begins in Uganda as black gold spreads in East Africa

Published

2 years ago

January 26, 2023

As the conversation for a green environment and the move to eco-friendly technology increases across the world, African countries are not giving up yet on oil exploration despite the continent being the biggest victim of pollution from oil fields.

In Uganda, East Africa, government officials have revealed that oil drilling has begun in a Chinese-operated field as the country expects to start production by 2025.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), Proscovia Nabbanja, in his remark said “it is an exciting moment for us as a national oil company but also an exciting moment for us as a country because there has been a general fatigue within the country on when first oil will come out.

The commencement of the construction of the oil pipeline described the project as the world’s longest-heated oil pipeline. between Uganda and Tanzania has been announced.

“Today is not the first oil, but it certainly is a big step in the right direction. It’s the day when we commission the drilling of the wells that will lead us to commercial production”, Nabbanja said.

The Managing Director of East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline, Martin Tiffen, also explained that “oil from Kingfisher will go northwards – 50 kilometres – to Kabaale as will the oil from the Tilenga development will come south 100 kilometres to Kabaale, which is the starting point for the EACOP (East African Crude Oil Pipeline) pipeline and they will be transported onwards to Tanga where it can then be exported to world markets. So the three projects, Kingfisher, Tilenga, and EACOP, they really go hand-in-glove together, you can’t have one without the other.

The pipeline has to transport the oil and the oil has to be produced here so the three projects are tightly interlinked”, Tiffen explained.

Estimates put oil reserves at 3.5 to 4 billion (159-liter) barrels on the Ugandan side of Lake Albert and around 2 billion on the Congolese side, while Kenya’s 1 billion or so barrels worth of oil is spread across several oil fields in the north of the country.

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Ivory Coast to create $500 million green financing fund

Published

6 days ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ivory Coast will establish a $500 million green financing fund to assist sustainable growth, the IMF said.

Africa’s 54 countries have been worst hit by climate change, although emitting less pollution than developed nations. They get only 1% of yearly global climate financing.

The African Green Banks Initiative aims to develop a $1.5 billion ecosystem of green investment facilities by 2030, including Ivory Coast’s new facility.

The Global Environment Facility, the Green Climate Fund, the Ivory Coast government, multilateral development banks, development finance organisations, and possible private sources will all contribute to the facility’s capitalisation.

The leading cocoa-growing country in the world, West Africa, has been drafting new legislation to help other green finance projects, such as a body to regulate carbon credit management.

The consequences of climate change have disproportionately affected Africa, making cyclones, floods, and droughts worse in recent years.

A 30-month, $1.3 billion loan agreement for Ivory Coast under the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility was authorised by the executive board in March.

According to the IMF, the funding agreement will help the Abidjani administration implement its pledge to lessen the negative consequences of climate change.

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1,172 Nigerians killed, over 1,000 kidnapped in nine months— NHRC

Published

1 week ago

November 14, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has put the figures of Nigerians killed and kidnapped by non-state actors from January to September 2024, at 1,172 and 1,463 respectively.

A new data released on Wednesday by the organization reveal that the month of May saw the 298 persons killed, making it the highest, while March recorded the highest number of abductions with 499 kidnappings.

These data which was presented at a workshop on the state of human rights in Nigeria by the commission and the European Union, in Abuja, attributed the rise in kidnappings, killings and child abandonment in Nigeria to the negligence and failure of the state to protect its citizens.

While presenting the data, NHRC Senior Human Rights Adviser, Hillary Ogbonna, gave a breakdown of what he described as the alarming rise in human rights abuses, including kidnappings, killings and child abandonment.

“By January 2024, we already had 150 kidnappings and 55 killings associated mainly with non-state actors. What has become the norm is the killing of law enforcement officers,” Ogbonna said.

“We started with seven policemen killed in January. From victims’ perspectives, we had quite a number of victims for human rights violations for January.”

Also speaking at the event, the NHRC Executive Secretary in Nigeria, Tony Ojukwu, said:

“In recent years, we have witnessed alarming trends and threats against those who dare to speak the truth to power.

“It serves as a stark reminder that the protection of human rights is an ongoing struggle that requires continuous vigilance, action and cooperation from all sectors of the society,” Ojukwu said.

A delegation from the EU which also made a presentation, reiterated its commitment to support Nigeria to overcome these challenges, while urging the Federal Government to work with the armed forces to end this trend.

“The European Union will continue to work around the world through diplomacy,” the Head of EU Delegation, Zissimos Vergos, said.h