The Executive Chair of the African Energy Chamber (AEC), NJ Ayuk has again, averred that Western climate campaigners have targeted Mozambique and Uganda too. He contends that the opposition of Western environmental lobbyists to oil extraction could put those countries in a precarious position that leaves them dependent on “handouts” and jeopardise their path to self-sufficiency.
“Africans don’t hate Oil and Gas companies,” Ayuk said. “We love Oil and Gas companies, that’s why everywhere I go around Africa, the message I hear from young and old people is ‘Drill Baby Drill’. We need oil and gas to get out of energy poverty,” the energy chair said on LinkedIn.
Ayuk explained that hundreds of millions of Africans have insufficient access to electricity currently, and that while renewable energy is touted, the investment in Africa in this regard is minimal. He said if access to Africans’ fossil fuel endowments is cut off, hundreds of millions will quite literally be left in the dark.
As the international community strives to strike a balance between environmental preservation and socio-economic progress, many nations, especially in the developing world, are walking a delicate tightrope to secure their future.
