Musings From Abroad

OPEC Sec-Gen, Al Ghais wants fairer climate treatment for Africa

Published

1 year ago

October 17, 2023

The Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Haitham Al Ghais, Tuesday clamoured for a fair treatment of Africa in the push to address global climate challenges.

Al Ghais stressed that the continent contributed the smallest share of greenhouse gas emissions globally.

“In a world in which Heathrow Airport consumes more energy than Sierra Leone or in which two-thirds of all primary schools in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity, the same environmental yardstick should not be used to compare regions at vastly different stages of development,” Al Ghais said in online remarks.

“Utilising Africa’s natural resources like oil and gas will help deliver energy affordability and alleviate energy poverty,” he said, a position often repeated by the fossil fuel industry to increase oil production on the continent.

Almost 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity, and nearly 1 billion do not have access to clean cooking energy despite the region’s enormous potential for solar, wind, and hydrogen energy.

Experts on climate change have noted that in African nations with significant fossil fuel deposits, earnings have primarily gone to enrich corrupt political leaders rather than reducing overall or energy poverty. According to them, the corruption that comes with petrodollars frequently results in even worse provision of essential services.

Speaking at an energy conference in Cape Town, the head of OPEC noted that the continent required more assistance and cooperation because oil demand in Africa was predicted to increase by almost 80% between now and 2045.

Just 40% and 57% of the populations in Angola and Nigeria, two of Africa’s top oil producers for decades, had access to electricity in 2021, according to 2022 data from the World Bank.

Despite having the lowest per capita energy use in the world, Africa is home to roughly 13% of the world’s natural gas and 7% of its oil.

Musings From Abroad

Nigeria, India to strengthen counterterrorism, maritime security cooperation

Published

13 hours ago

November 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

During a state visit to Nigeria on Sunday, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra, Modi reached an agreement, on behalf of his country, to strengthen cooperation in counterterrorism, intelligence, and maritime security.

President Bola Tinubu invited Modi to visit Nigeria, the first Indian prime minister to do so in 17 years.

Tinubu is looking for investments from some of the largest economies in the world.

In addition to discussing economic development, defence, healthcare, and food security, Modi and Tinubu met at the presidential mansion on Sunday after arriving in the capital, Abuja, on Saturday night, according to a joint statement.

The two nations decided to work together to protect maritime trade routes and fight piracy in response to the mounting risks in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea.

The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria, is looking to attract more Indian investment and lower-cost credit lines in order to strengthen its economy and generate employment.

Nigeria announced last year that it had obtained about $14 billion in pledges from Indian businesses, including Jindal Steel and Power, which promised to spend $3 billion in Nigeria’s steel industry, during the G20 conference.

Over 200 Indian businesses are present in Nigeria.

Modi was scheduled to go to Brazil for this year’s G20 conference after Nigeria.

Nigeria and India have a long-standing and cordial bilateral relationship. Nigeria, home to more than 200 million people, and India, home to 1.3 billion people, are both sizable emerging nations with multilingual, multiethnic, and multireligious communities.

Musings From Abroad

Military advisors from Russia arrive Equatorial Guinea

Published

1 day ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Russian military advisors are in Equatorial Guinea training indigenous soldiers.

Anonymous sources cited by Reuters during the week claim that between 100 and 200 Russian instructors are training with elite guards in charge of guarding the President and the first family.

The males had been seen in Malabo, the country’s capital, and Bata, its second city. Reports of Russian forces stationed in the nation initially appeared in August.

Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has maintained close relations with Moscow.

Nguema travelled to Moscow in September to attend the Russian Energy Week International Forum.

Russia has strengthened military connections with African countries, sending advisors and combat soldiers to the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

Faced with an Islamist terrorist insurrection, three Sahel countries have turned to Moscow for support, expelling French and American troops.