Page 31 - Nigeria one mag 4 edition en

An uncertain future for African energy

Tilghemt gas plant in Hassi R'mel in Algeria

While developed nations are phasing out fossil fuels, African nations are finding significant oil and gas reserves.
These discoveries occurred at a time when none of these countries can tackle the issues of production, transformation,
and distribution alone.
For exploration, extraction, transformation, and distribution of their natural resources, African nations need the
assistance of developed countries or international oil companies.
On the other hand, we are noticing a certain volatility in the ranking of the top African oil producer.
Angola lost the first place after replacing Nigeria as the African leader after only one month. Libya ,which led the way
during Khadfi glorious years, is now the number one.
It went to significant trouble with security issues for years after the death of the flamboyant and charismatic
panafricanist.
A few reasons are at the origin of this unfortunate situation:
It took way too long for the first oil and gas producers to figure out how these resources should be managed. In
certain instances, international firms, in collusion with African producers' leaders, reaped the greatest rewards
from the exploitation of the black gold, while the majority of people lived on hope.
The revenues that emanated from the precious liquid did not really serve to create new affiliated divisions, which
would have led to more jobs and a consistent reduction of poverty.
Some of these revenues should have also been reinvested in research and development (R&D) to anticipate the
dependence on outside partners.
Except for NLNG Bonny Island, no technology transfer helped reduce dependence on external sources.
No adequate laws were in place to regulate the industry and define the terms of the collaboration.
For society to become less dependent on a single source of revenue, oil revenues should have been reinvested in
other areas.
All of the above factors have made it very difficult to predict the future of African energy.

Africa 31