Columbia and the Netherlands are getting ready to convene the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta this weekend – the first of a series of conferences aimed at establishing a concrete plan to stop fossil fuel exploration and utilization. On the back of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, backed by 17 nation-states alongside the World Health Organization, the European Parliament and activists, the conference aims to establish an internationally binding Fossil Fuel Treaty to end oil, gas and coal use worldwide.
While the conference is being positioned as a defining moment for global climate policy, in reality, it reflects a familiar pattern: Western-led frameworks seeking to impose uniform energy timelines on economies with vastly different development trajectories. For Africa, the implications are not theoretical – they are structural, immediate and potentially destabilizing.
As the voice of the African energy sector, the African Energy Chamber (AEC) strongly opposes the upcoming conference, viewing it as another example of Western-led policy imperialism that sidelines Africa’s development agenda. By ignoring the development needs of emerging economies in Africa, the conference is taking deliberate steps to restrict the very resources that can transform the continent. What is further concerning is that while the conference has committed to establishing an international framework for fossil fuels, no African oil-producing country is invited. For the AEC, this exclusion underscores a broader pattern – global frameworks being designed without input from the very regions most affected by their outcomes.
Platforms such as this directly threaten Africa’s development by promoting energy transition policies that restrict investment, villainize resources and create an environment where climate agendas are positioned ahead of people’s livelihoods. The continent remains the least electrified in the world, with approximately 600 million people lacking access to electricity and close to 900 million without access to clean cooking solutions. These deficits define the baseline from which any transition must occur.
Africa’s energy challenges are further accentuated by the current geopolitical context. The Middle East conflict has seen over 20% of global oil and gas trade affected, while energy prices have skyrocketed and supplies are dwindling. This has reinforced the continent’s structural vulnerabilities as well as exposure to external markets. South Africa offers a clear illustration of this. As a net importer of refined fuels, the country has faced mounting fiscal pressure from rising energy costs. The removal of the fuel levy has stripped approximately R6 billion per month from the national budget – funds that would otherwise be allocated to critical public services such as healthcare and education.
Rather than considering these impacts, the upcoming Santa Marta Conference is using them as a launchpad for its anti-fossil fuel agenda. Removing energy resources – not strengthening supply – is a clarion call.
At a press conference held ahead of the event on April 20, speakers not only reaffirmed this, but went as far as to position international and national oil companies as obstacles in the energy transition. In practice, these entities remain central to economic planning across Africa, funding infrastructure, supporting local industries and enabling energy access. Calls to restrict their core activities without viable substitutes risk undermining both economic stability and long-term transition capacity. Even within the Santa Marta discussions, it was acknowledged that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to NOCs is not feasible given differences in reserves, fiscal dependency and operational efficiency.
Yet the conference’s agenda was made clear: to end the use of fossil fuels – no matter the consequences.
“Africa’s energy future must be defined by pragmatism. Oil and gas will continue to play a foundational role – not as a rejection of transition, but as a bridge toward it. Just because the voices of global climate activists are getting louder, doesn’t mean the needs of Africa are getting quieter. We will continue to fight for our right to develop. We will continue opposing Western-led ideologies that limit our development. And we will continue advocating for Africa, even if global conferences refuse to include us,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, AEC.
Africa’s development needs remain unchanged – and any transition framework that fails to recognize this risks deepening inequality rather than resolving it.
