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While the consensus opinion of the western elites may be that oil and gas is a dirty, outdated technology staggering on its last legs, the African Energy Chamber remains grounded in reality.

Vilifying fossil fuels seems to come easily to many people these days. That includes UN Secretary General António Guterres, who recently associated them with war, pollution, and climate catastrophe. The only true path toward peace in the 21st century, he said, is an accelerated renewables-based energy transition, and African gas exploration be damned in the process. In fact, he claimed that exploring for gas and oil anywhere in the world is “delusional.”

When Africans look at the green agenda from Western countries, they see something written by extreme forces that do not factor our concerns especially around natural gas and energy poverty.

Africans at COP27 and beyond need to pay critical attention about Africa’s position as a key source of critical minerals. Climate change and energy poverty are two sides of the same coin.

I arrived Sharm El Sheikh for Cop27 to stickers bearing the circulating arrows emblem of sustainability. The city appears to be in tip-top shape. I listened to the speeches at the opening ceremony of COP27 noting that Africa faces a quandary: The continent is seeking to eradicate energy poverty and create a better future for our people with a known solution that developed countries have exploited for centuries, namely fossil fuels. Yet many of those very countries are now standing in Africa’s way.  

The African Energy Chamber would like to congratulate Dr. Farouk for his reappointment as Secretary General of the APPO.

Je vais à la COP27 parce que je crois que si l’Afrique n’est pas sur la table, elle sera au menu. Soyons clairs, ceux d’entre nous qui plaident pour que les pays africains continuent d’utiliser leurs ressources pétrolières et gazières ne sont pas en train d'”ignorer” l’agenda vert mondial – nous ne sommes tout simplement pas prêts à adopter le calendrier mondial de transition vers les carburants renouvelables au détriment de notre propre sécurité énergétique et de notre bien-être économique.

I am going to COP27 because I believe if Africa is not on the table it will be on the menu. Let me be clear, those of us who are advocating for African countries to continue using their oil and gas resources are not “ignoring” the world’s green agenda – we’re simply not willing to embrace the world’s timetable for transitioning to renewable fuels at the expense of our own energy security and economic well-being

Just when you think nothing could be worse for the global economy than a pandemic, Russia invades Ukraine, and the world spirals closer to recession.

Now more than ever is the time to invest in Angola’s energy industry and drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth on the back of oil and gas.