Energy policies in Africa in light of the successive changes
The African continent needs to introduce comprehensive, just development that extends across the continent that would coordinate vertically and horizontally to ensure an African negotiating power against the oil cartels that drain these resources in an unfair manner in the absence of political will and the rampant corruption among the ruling African elites.
Fossil fuels have formed the backbone of contemporary civilization during a century and a half, especially oil and gas. Despite the catastrophic environmental risks that led to global warming, which led to a dramatic series of environmental disasters in various parts of the world, during the past two decades and increased in frequency in the last four years; Which led to the growth of environmental awareness around the planet, and environmental protection groups became active in most continents of the world, which led to a global donation to save the planet. There has been optimism for months during the year 2021, but the current indicators indicate the exact opposite, as these indicators reveal that dependence on fossil fuels as an energy source will increase by unprecedented records at least until the early forties of this century (1) .
Africa has the largest number of oil-producing countries, with 21 countries compared to 19 in Asia, 19 in Europe, and 10 in North America. Africa has about 125 billion barrels of oil reserves, which is almost half of what Saudi Arabia has (260 billion barrels). The largest reserves are concentrated in the following countries: Libya, Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Sudan, Egypt, Congo Brazzaville, Uganda, Gabon and Chad.
In the last three years, the average annual total production in Africa was about 372 million tons of oil, and more than half of this production came from three countries: Nigeria, Libya and Algeria.
In the year 2021, the list of oil production in the top 10 African countries was as follows (2) :
- Nigeria: It was the largest producer of crude oil in 2021, and Nigeria averaged 1.27 million barrels of crude
- Libya: produced an average of 1.21 million barrels of crude oil per day.
- Angola: produces 1.11 million barrels of crude oil per day.
- Algeria: produced an average of 959,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
- Egypt: It produced 559,000 barrels per day.
- Republic of the Congo: This country’s daily production averaged 253,000 barrels.
- Gabon: Gabon’s production averaged 188,000 per day.
- Ghana: production reached 176,000 barrels per day.
- Guinea: The average daily production of
- Chad: Its production reached 70,000 barrels per day.
The coronavirus-related closures led to an oversupply of gas and very low prices, specifically in the first half of 2020, before the situation turned upside down, and the global gas market witnessed a sharp rise in prices and shortages in late 2021, and the situation continued – and even worsened – in 2022; Because of the Russian war on Ukraine.
According to the global gas market report recently issued by the International Gas Union, the world’s production of natural gas rose to 4.028 trillion cubic meters in 2021, compared to 3.865 trillion cubic meters in 2020 (3) .
Algeria is the largest gas exporter in the African continent, and the seventh largest in the world, with an annual share of 41.1 billion cubic meters (26.1 billion through pipelines, 15 billion liquid), followed by Nigeria, the eighth in the world, with a share of 28.4 billion cubic meters, all of which are liquid.
First: Concern for energy in Africa
The interest in energy in Africa came in two historical moments. The first was after the Ramadan war in October 1973 between the Arab countries and Israel, when six Arab member states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced a ban on exports to countries supporting Israel, especially the United States. At that time, the price of oil quadrupled to $11.65 a barrel; Which caused recession in Western countries and severe inflation, and constituted a violent shock to the global economy whose repercussions have been for more than a decade, and the second in March 2014, after the Russian Federation annexed the Ukrainian Crimea to its territory. In the first case, Western countries, especially the United States of America, realized the danger of relying on a single source of energy, and the need to diversify and multiply energy sources, as well as the need to create a strategic stockpile that is always ready to be used in emergencies or force majeure.
In both cases, Africa was the closest; This made the major oil companies in the world spend 80% of their exploration budgets in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, the Gulf of Guinea is considered one of the most important oil production areas in Africa, in addition to its huge reserves (60 billion barrels) and huge reserves of natural gas (as North Africa – and in the heart of it Libya – floats on huge oil and gas reserves. Cosmos and Chevron announced important discoveries on the Atlantic coasts of Senegal and Mauritania, which makes current oil supplies in the Gulf of Guinea and future oil supplies in Senegal and Mauritania. In a suitable location that qualifies it for export to the North American continent, as well as to Europe; Which is – also – a large consumer of oil, while ensuring the saving of transportation costs, and this in itself is an important factor, if we know that 40% of global shipping expenses are absorbed by oil output, and the production areas are far from residential areas and close to the seas.(4) .
Second, the curse of natural resources
There is no doubt that the curse of natural resources afflicts most African countries with large energy resources, such as: Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Sudan; It is noted that the African tigers, which have carried out comprehensive radical reforms and achieved impressive growth rates for two decades, have placed them in the fold of developing countries on the path of development and progress, such as: Rwanda, Mauritius, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Botswana, Cape Verde and Namibia, which do not have fossil energy resources, in While the African countries that have large resources of oil and gas are experiencing stifling crises and have known instability for decades, and African oil countries are witnessing structural imbalances, perhaps the most prominent of which are:
a) instability
The most important African oil countries, such as: Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Sudan, witness from time to time unrest and security disturbances due to many reasons, the most important of which are marginalization, corruption, the absence of just regional development and the conflict over resources, perhaps the longest-lived of which is the conflict in the Sudanese border region of Abyei between North and South Sudan and the Delta region. Niger in Nigeria; As these two conflicts are more than half a century old, with no real solution looming on the near horizon! These two chronic conflicts have cost thousands of victims, millions of displaced persons, and hundreds of billions of financial losses over these decades. From 1991 to 2002, Algeria experienced a black decade between the army and political Islam, with 150,000 dead and nearly half a million wounded. Libya has also known for more than a decade and until now a civil war that claimed 27,871 dead and nearly three quarters of a million wounded and disabled, in a population of no more than 6.(5) .
b) corruption
Corruption in many African countries has become an integrated system, extending to all sectors. Corruption is clearly visible in the oil-rich and oil-rich countries of the continent, and it is a serious obstacle to the development of the continent. Corruption wastes $148 billion annually, which is equivalent to 6.1% of the continent’s GDP (6) . Because of corruption, many countries of the continent, especially sub-Saharan Africa, have been deprived of huge foreign investments that were intended to enter the region. Recently, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari launched a fierce campaign against corruption years ago, crowned him as an African champion to fight corruption, and seriousness and determination are evident in Africa’s largest economies to fight this scourge, but political will alone – despite its importance – is not enough to eliminate a system of corruption in a country Long rated the most corrupt in the world and for decades.
c) Absence of good governance
Due to the absence of democracy, the frequent military coups, and the pervasiveness of corruption, clientelism, nepotism, and loyalty to sub-identities (tribe/clan, and sometimes religious sect) were entrenched; This led to the complete disappearance of all aspects of good governance and the consequent transparency, accountability, and upholding the values of citizenship, and the like.
D) developmental impairment
With the exception of Libya, Algeria and Angola, the rest of the oil-producing countries, including the African energy giant, Nigeria, suffer from structural imbalances; Where development is concentrated in major metropolises and capitals of governorates and municipalities, it decreases as the distance from the capitals moves away, and is almost non-existent in the far outskirts; Where marginalization and fragility prevail, and honest work opportunities are lacking; This made the population of the periphery a fuel and a recruitment ground for extremist organizations, a hotbed for transnational organized crime, and an international corridor for smuggling and human trafficking (7) .
e) Organized crime and terrorism
Since the fall and collapse of the Islamic State in Mosul and Raqqa, the Sahel region and West Africa have become home to extremist groups affiliated with the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda, and their presence intensified after the Taliban’s disavowal from Al-Qaeda, in late 2015, and the region extending from Algeria and Libya in the north through the Sahel region and ending with the Triangle The Niger-Chadian-Cameroon border is a fertile ground for a trio of deaths (terrorism, drugs, smuggling and human trafficking), and the region has been known in recent years as a paradise of organized crime and transnational terrorism (8) .
f) the control of the oil cartels
With the exception of Algeria, the Seven Sisters Cartel (British Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Occidental, Eni, Golf, and Alef) controls the production, marketing and sale of African oil, and these companies live like a state within a state with their secretive behavior on revenues and fiscal policies relating to revenues. It was helped in this by the spread of corruption among the ruling African elites. The most dangerous thing is the involvement of these companies in local conflicts by supporting one party against the other and fueling hostilities. In this regard, the Seven Oil Sisters played a dirty role, especially in the Niger Delta and Abyei region in Sudan; Where it has been proven that some of these companies support separatist movements and rebels, and fight against central governments (9) .
Third: the global competition for Africa
The presence of natural resources in large quantities in the African continent, in addition to the discovery of huge reserves of oil and gas in its interior, has made the continent the focus of attention and an arena for international competition during the past two decades. And until the beginning of the millennium, the Francophone countries were an area of exclusive influence for France and its companies, while Britain and the United States were competing for the markets of the Anglophone countries, but the entry of new competitors on the scene made the conflict raging, and the presence of water in large quantities, and the fertility of arable soil increased. The continent is expected to be the world’s largest source of alternative and clean energies in the next few decades.
At the beginning of the millennium, China gradually penetrated to become the first trade and economic partner of the African continent within a decade, with trade exchanges amounting to 107 billion dollars in 2008, and this number doubled and a half times to reach in 2021 to a quarter of a trillion dollars (specifically 254 billion dollars). With the intensification of conflict and competition between France and the United States and Western countries on the one hand, and China, other countries, such as Turkey, Brazil, India, Japan and Russia, crept in to grab a significant market share. The biggest loser from the intensification of competition for the markets of the brown continent is France, which is unable to maintain its traditional areas of influence in the continent. Economists expect that three quarters of global investments will go to the African continent during the next two decades (10). As for the energy market in Africa, competition has reached high levels between the United States – which is still the largest dominator – and between China, Russia and France, and the language of indicators says: the struggle over energy resources and resources in Africa will be limited in the next few years to the two giants, China and the United States, as these two giants have all the necessary competition tools.
Fourth: Energy Policies in Africa
Energy policies in Africa constitute the height of complexity and overlap due to the intertwining of the external factor with the internal factor, in the midst of which national sovereignty is almost lost. International interests and the search for influence and hegemony among international and regional players; Sometimes it is manifested by blatant interference in the internal affairs of African countries, and sometimes by supporting an ally or a party to a conflict, or by igniting wars if necessary. Given that fossil fuels have for decades become a primary determinant of international interactions and a basis for global strategic thinking, the United Nations organization has sought through the meetings of the General Assembly since the sixties of the last century to establish sovereignty over natural resources and wealth, and complement international policies such as the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and Africa’s Agenda 2063, legislation patriotism; However, the gap is wide between the principle of sovereignty and its contemporary applications.
Major companies control the oil sector by virtue of their enormous capabilities in contrast to the financial and scientific weakness of African countries, while national companies play a limited and secondary role. Oil company licensing contracts with African countries sometimes extend for more than twenty years, and there are several types of petroleum contracts (2). The sector generates profits and huge wealth, and therefore it is not surprising that the global oil giants control the energy policies in Africa. There are many players in the field, from international institutions such as the World Bank to Western (European-American) and Asian multinational companies, to countries from different continents. West Africa is of particular vital importance; Where investment in this region is dominated by large American companies, such as: Exxon Mobil, Amerada Hess, Chevron Texaco, and Maratho Oil (3). The Atlantic-African front of energy policies, specifically with the United States of America and Western European countries, opens wide horizons. Then the penetration of the French colonies. The eastern shores constitute an advantage for the Asian powers in general and for the strongest of them in particular (Beijing, New Delhi, Tokyo, Tehran, Ankara).(11) The importance of the African continent will increase in the next few years because it qualifies to be home to seventy percent of the renewable energies in the world of tomorrow.
Conclusion
Despite the huge stockpile of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) present in 21 African countries, nearly half of the continent’s population does not have electricity, and a third of the continent’s population lives below the poverty line. Indeed, the poorest countries in the world are on the continent, including oil-producing countries such as Chad. And Mauritania! This necessitates decision-makers, especially in African oil-producing countries, to adopt more prudent policies that enable them to benefit from the depleted resources that God has endowed with them, and to create comprehensive and just development that extends throughout the country, and vertical and horizontal coordination to ensure an African negotiating power against the oil cartels that drain these wealth In an unfair manner, in the absence of political will and widespread corruption among the ruling African elites.
About the author
Al-Hussein Sheikh Al-Alawi
Mauritanian researcher and academic interested in Maghreb affairs and coastal issuesREFERENCES
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