THE Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Haitham Ghais, has said halting fossil fuel funding targeted at Africa would destroy the continental economy.
Ghais expressed his concern that financial institutions are limiting, tightening, as well as controlling how money is invested into fossil fuels under the guise of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts.
The OPEC scribe asserted on Tuesday, July 11 at the 22nd edition of the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja that the situation was hindering Africa’s progress despite the fact that the continent accounts for only 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The theme of the conference is ‘Powering Nigeria’s Sustainable Energy Future.
On investments inflow into the oil and gas sector, he said the global oil sector alone would need a massive cumulative investment of $12.1 trillion between now and 2045.
“We are currently not on track to reaching that level. To make things worse, we have in recent years been getting calls to limit or stop funding new oil and gas projects altogether.
“This is, of course, unwise and is a very realistic scenario that will be particularly devastating to developing countries that rely on revenue and their precious oil and gas resources to develop their economies.
“Africa, for example, is blessed with an estimated 120 million barrels of crude oil reserves and 18 trillion metres of natural gas.
“However, a significant investment will be required to fully realise the potential of these resources to benefit African citizens, while also enabling necessary mitigation actions needed to reduce the carbon footprint of the oil industry,” he said.
The ICIR had reported how funding from international organisations like the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) were shifting away from oil to clean energy.
Some global multilateral lenders to international oil companies (IOCs) are seriously emphasising clean energy investments in line with global energy transition project.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.
Dropped waivers.