African Call to Boycott Western Institutions Targetting Africa’s Fossil Fuels

A number of Western companies, financial institutions, and political organizations have called for disinvestment from Africa’s fossil fuels as part of the drive to reach the goal of “net zero emissions” imposed by the climate change lobby. In response, the African Energy Chamber (AEC), which represents African firms engaged in developing the continent’s fossil fuels, issued a July 13 statement calling on “African countries to boycott [Western] companies that boycott African oil and gas” (https://energychamber.org/if-you-boycott-africas-oilgas-sector-africa-will-boycott-you/).

They take note of a “significant decline in foreign investment in the African energy sector” as a result of the international community’s push for “a rapid decrease in carbon emissions due to climate change”, which will have disastrous effects on the continent’s future. Oil is demonized in spite of its “potential to lift millions out of poverty and ensure underdeveloped African nations have a chance at economic growth and success.”

While the AEC does not dispute the goal of reaching renewable energies, it asserts that “a healthy oil and gas industry is a good and cost-effective way to get there”, while at the same time allowing Africa the energy it needs to develop.

It then points to some plain facts. “Africa is not to blame for any climate issues and should not be made to pay the price for it…. Ignoring the role that carbon-based fuels have played in driving human progress distorts the public debate. We cannot expect African nations – which together emitted seven times less CO2 than China last year, and four times less than the US, according to the Global Carbon Atlas – to undermine promising opportunities for economic development by simply aligning with the Western view of how to address carbon emissions.”

The AEC’s call also identifies some of the culprits in the developed sector: “With the end of investment in African oil and gas declared by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, BlackRock, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and [Development] and the [OECD’s] International Energy Agency, Africa will not be able to alleviate energy poverty. What’s more, organizations such as GreenPeace and Friends of the Earth continue to cause major project disruptions in Africa, directly impacting any opportunity for sectoral and economic growth.”

Hopefully, the AEC is also well aware of the pernicious plans of the European Commission (Green Deal) and of Mark Carney, the UN’S special envoy on climate action and finance, who proposes outright that African countries willfully sacrifice their own development in order to sell to Western companies and countries the CO2 emission rights they would have otherwise used for infrastructure, agriculture, etc.

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