African countries to push for more fossil fuel projects at COP27
By Paul Homewood
They want our money and fossil fuels:
CAPE TOWN, Oct 4 (Reuters) – African countries will use the COP27 climate talks in Egypt next month to advocate for a common energy position that sees fossil fuels as necessary to expanding economies and electricity access, the continent’s top energy official said on Tuesday.
The African position, criticised by environmental groups, could overshadow global climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh seeking to build on the previous Glasgow summit and make good on financing targets by rich nations to poorer countries that have fallen far short of the promised $100 billion a year by 2020.
"We recognize that some countries may have to use fossil fuels for now, but it’s not one solution fits all," said Amani Abou-Zeid, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy.
"It is not time to exclude, but it is the time to tailor solutions for a context," she told Reuters on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference.
An AU technical study attended by 45 African countries on 16 June seen by Reuters outlined that oil and coal will play a "crucial role" in expanding modern energy access over the short to medium term.
In tandem with renewable sources, Africa also sees key roles for natural gas and nuclear energy.
"Our ambition is to have fast-growing economies, competitive and industrialised," Abou-Zeid said.
‘AFRICA HAS WOKEN UP’
Seen as a renewable hub given its vast solar, wind and hydrogen potential, Africa also has around 600 million people in its sub-Saharan region living without electricity and almost 1 billion citizens without access to clean energy for cooking.
However, critics point out that in African countries with large fossil fuel reserves, proceeds have mostly been used to feather the nests of corrupt political elites and have not helped alleviate general poverty or energy poverty.
In Angola and Nigeria, Africa’s leading oil producers for decades, access to electricity in 2021 for the population was just 40% and 57%, respectively, the World Bank says, and top producer Nigeria has the world’s largest energy access deficit.
Fast-growing Africa produces less than 4% of total global emissions and is looking to monetize new gas and oil finds, some of the largest this decade, to help plug European demand after major supplier Russia invaded Ukraine and subsequently turned off gas supplies to EU economies.
"Africa has woken up and we are going to exploit our natural resources," said Uganda Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu.
"There is no way you can develop any economy, any society without energy," said Omar Farouk Ibrahim, secretary general of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation.
"We are talking about coal, we are talking oil and we are talking about gas. At this time we are not discriminating," he told Reuters.
Outside the conference venue Cape Town convention centre, a handful of Extinction Rebellion activists poured a reddish, oily mixture over their heads to protest.
"We believe the fossil fuel industry is killing us," spokeswoman Judy Scott-Goldman told reporters.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Africa needs safe fossil energy. If you’ve stood in a hut with the young mother coughing and facing
a short life due to the wood smoke she’s breathing and seen children burnt and dying of spilt boiling oil by the same wood fires you’d agree. Europe has enough fossil resources to enable development of technologies and achieve a transition to clean energy over the next century – the timescale that fossil fuels will become too precious to just burn. If we impose carbon border taxes then we cannot afford imported carbon fuels.
Edenhofer’s admission springs to mind >>>
Just as long as Ottmar’s wealth is not re-distributed
Oh, no — it’s never about sacrifices _he_ will make; it’s always the sacrifices that everyone _else_ will make at his decree. Someone has to guide the teeming masses to a better world, and he’s _obviously_ the best choice for that role.
It is so comforting to know that hypocrisy is alive and well amongst our ‘betters’.
Good news, some people being sensible and telling the truth
I am sure though the final comunique(?) Will be all smiles and hail the conference as a great success as countries promise to reduce CO2 some time in the future.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tilakdoshi/2022/10/30/cop27-at-sharm-al-sheikh-africas-chance-to-break-from-climate-colonialism/
I wonder how the Extinction Rebels got there? Bicycle, walking?
It’s a bit rich that African countries are simultaneously demanding monetary “compensation” from the West for the supposed ravages of climate change while also demanding that they should be able to burn as much fossil fuels as they need. They probably plan to use the compensation to pay for the fossil fuels!
I expect so, they are finally waking up to what the game is about
In most cases they simply want to burn their own hydrocarbons but World Bank and IMF won’t permit loans for construction of reliable energy plants. Europe is importing coal from Botswana.
Reply to Nigel Sherratt
It was some years ago that I read (can’t remember where so I can’t vouch for the accuracy) that Lesotho sits on enough coal to power most of southern Africa for the rest of this century.
All they needed was the seed corn loan to get the mines operating. World Bank say no! I don’t think ‘shameful’ starts to describe it!
Mike, I’m sure the Chinese can be persuaded to help out for a few sacks!
I have this photo of a ten year old Laotian Hmong tribal boy cooking lunch in family hut on twigs and dung. His lungs? But I think the Chinese are investing in SE Asian coal fired power stations. As for Africa, thank goodness! May perhaps reduce catastrophic birth rate,
I never thought that I would ever agree with anything the Greta Thunberg said, but she is right about COP27.
“”Greta Thunberg blasts attention-seeking COP27 leaders and says she’ll skip the ‘greenwashing’ climate summit””
Lets hope Africa gets investment (scrap the ESG financial restraints) in reliable electricity (coal) not intermittent renewables.
I think the Chinese will be very happy to underwrite African energy projects as long as they get a nice dollop of fossil fuels as a reward.
I’ve been banging on to anyone who will listen – especially the Malthusians who claim there are too many people on the planet – that the way to control population is by supplying cheap, available, reliable and efficient electric power (the rest of ‘energy’ will follow, IMO). That reduces the need to very large families to provide the cheap labour that keeps a family going.
When I read, on an earlier post, about the huge increase in the population of Ethiopia which, at the moment, totals near 123M!!) whereas, in 1985 it was about 40M.
Very much Shellenberger’s argument. And it’s been well known and accepted for years. The only reliable way to improve the quality of life is affordable, reliable energy. In simple terms: you flip a switch, it happens. Whether it is cooking the dinner, turning on the heating, or starting the car.
We do not have the right to deprive half the human race of the benefits the Industrial Revolution brought us and the fact that it is to a very great extent those who (either themselves or their forebears) acquired considerable wealth from industrial or technological advances are the very ones standing in the way of others having the same benefits is an obscenity.
Philanthropy, in my definition, does not extend to supporting causes which actively deprive the less able (however defined) of the right to a better life.
Quite right, as the late Hans Rosling pointed out in his book Factfulness.
Met Office failed to predict the severity of the south coast storm last night, they were indicating gusts to ~45mph for me, but I was woken up by the sort of window whistle we only get at well over 70mph. Needles registered over the ton, yer yer always does, but it was well over. We missed the worst of some of the storms in recent years so this was the worst for us in some considerable time.
Yep down in Kent, I spent most of this morning repairing overnight damage -( in a North Downs valley that runs roughly SW to NE and suffers in the wrong wind conditions. ) The local forecast gave no warning of anything remotely as severe as last night actually was.
Yet they would have us believe that they can forecast temperature changes to fractions of a degree 50 years hence!
Yes, lot of damage as it’s been a while since the last big blow, a forecast fail akin 87, but no outrage!
Sadly China probably thinks twice about investing in proper power stations in Africa, because their main objective is to grab as much coal/oil/gas as they can for consumption at home. A doubly whammy for Africa, stuck between Western virtue and Eastern common sense.
My experience of Africa is that they really do need reliable public electricity supplies just to improve longevity and mortality.
However every aid project now is built around renewable energy and it doesn’t work.
Something we won’t be hearing from MSM.
And I hear Bojo is rolling up to add his two penneth with speech fees to follow no doubt.
It’s really odd that nations need permission.
“If I build a coal-fired power plant, will you still give me my climate money?” – African dictator
Power plants for Africa is colonialist’ blunder. Start by getting them property rights. And a lot more. You can’t have a grid when soldiers will take the wire and sell it for scrap. You can’t build – and supply – a power plant when the closest road is 50 miles away.