Durban, South Africa – For over sixty years, the vast energy reserves beneath Africa’s soil have fueled the growth of the Global North, leaving millions of Africans in the dark. Critics and lobbyists now argue that reliance on fossil fuels has not only failed to empower the continent but has also inflicted a heavy toll on its people and environment.
The “rewards” have been a harsh reality where communities have witnessed the continual degradation of land and water. The choking effects of pollution and the silent suffering have been a chilling reminder for poor African citizen that their land is not their own. Worse still, land grabbing, insecurity, and human rights abuses have marred the well-being of Africans, leaving over 700 million without access to basic energy needs like electricity and pollution-free cooking fuel.
Markedly, Africa has endured multipronged human loss since colonialism and human-induced climate change seems to exacerbate the situation. Impatient floods, droughts, hurricanes, and typhoons have continued to be the side effects in East and Southeast African nations and the root cause seems to be linked to Global North States. This year, Kenya, Mozambique, some parts of Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda have suffered extreme weather events, connected to the continued burning of fossil fuels in the Global North has directly impacted the climate crisis among innocent Africans.
This notwithstanding, the Friends of the Earth Africa are working to support the African peoples and the planet. As a social movement, Friend of the Eart continues to work tirelessly to include peoples’ participation, in energy-related discussions. In a recent discussion, they boldly stated that “Africa should not be fooled by the development and “energy poverty eradication” lip service. Instead, the Friends of the Earth Africa demands that Africa ought to develop narratives for development that cause no harm to communities.
Additionally, the Action Justice Climate staged a nonviolent action at the close of the “Invest in African Energy Forum” in Paris, while calling out for a “Total, Perenco, Stop prédation fossil.”
In their view, “It is an illusion to think that exploring fossil fuels on the African continent will bring energy or development to Africa.”
The group also stated that the African continent is responsible for more than 14% of the short-term oil and gas expansion there.
A significant percentage of Africans need clean energy and are willing to develop their own community-based solutions. Whether African governments will head to the requests from the Action Justice Climate and the Friend of Africa will only be told over time.
The energy revolution Africa needs to be a people-led engagement that assures millions of jobs and at the same time alleviates poverty building a more secure and sustainable future for all.