Several years ago, the International Energy Agency (IEA), in its ‘most comprehensive analytical study to date of the energy outlook for Africa’,Footnote1 posited that the 21st century could be ‘an African century’.Footnote2
Meanwhile, Kofi A Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General and currently Chair of the Africa Progress Panel,Footnote3 has written: ‘Can the world prevent catastrophic climate change while building the energy systems needed to sustain growth, create jobs, and lift millions of people out of poverty? That question goes to the heart of the defining development challenges of the 21st century’, adding ‘It is a vital question for Africa. No region has done less to contribute to the climate crisis, but no region will pay a higher price for failure to tackle it’.Footnote4
As a result of these intertwined, and sometimes conflicting, challenges and opportunities, the Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law is pleased to publish this special issue, ‘African energy and natural resources: looking strategically forward or maintaining the status quo and risking what may come’ as our first issue of 2018.
There is widespread agreement that Africa hungers for more energy. For instance, the World Economic Forum reported in late 2016 that less than one-fourth of all sub-Saharan Africans ‘have access to electricity and the energy generation capacity of Africa (excluding South Africa) is only 28 gigawatts, equal to that of Argentina’.Footnote5 Looked at another way, more than 600 million Africans still lack access to modern energy.Footnote6 What makes this particularly ironic, the World Economic Forum suggests, is that ‘Africa is actually very rich in energy resources but most of the energy potential on the continent is unexploited’.Footnote7
As a consequence of the lack of energy development on the continent, ‘When satellites train their cameras onto Africa at night, it is almost as if they are peering back to an age before electricity … [A]part from speckles of light around the biggest cities, much of Africa is dark’.Footnote8
What must be done to harness Africa's energy potential? In the eyes of many, there is a direct link between poverty, energy and climate change.Footnote9 This link represents significant opportunities for Africa. ‘Energy policy is at the heart of the opportunity’, the Africa Progress Panel has concluded.Footnote10 ‘Africa's leaders have been content to oversee highly centralized energy systems designed to benefit the rich and bypass the poor. [In particular,] power utilities have been centres of political patronage and corruption’.Footnote11 This must change.
The IEA has suggested that, in particular, the sub-Saharan economy could be boosted by nearly one-third by 2040, if three actions are taken in the energy sector:
investing an additional $450bn in the power sector;
stronger regional integration and cooperation; and
improving management of resource-derived revenues.Footnote12
Along with these actions, the Africa Progress Panel has called for Africa's governments to establish ambitious energy strategies, beginning with the power sector. By 2040, the Panel has written, ‘Governments should aim at a 10-fold increase in power generation … while laying the foundations for a low-carbon transition. Public spending on energy should be raised to 3–4 percent of gross domestic product’.Footnote13
Finally, governance improvements underpin the ability to reach a strategically brighter future. Improvements must take place both outside and inside the energy sector and involve, among other concepts, ‘heavy investment in the capacity to formulate and implement sound energy policies, as well as the consultation and accountability that is essential to win public consent’.Footnote14
No one special issue of any publication can comprehensively tackle such enormous challenges or point the definitive way ahead for addressing opportunities, but the Journal intends to launch a discussion on these multiple matters in this issue. This is not the end of the discussion; it is just the beginning. We invite you to ‘stay tuned’.
In this issue
This issue begins with a consideration and assessment of Ghana's new Act 919 of 2016, which is considered a major milestone in the legislative history of the upstream oil and gas industry in the country. The article's main objective is to analyse the new statute's fitness for purpose in the context of the historical background of petroleum exploration and production in Ghana. The article was written by George Ndi, Senior Lecturer in Law and Law Research Group and PGR Leader at The Law School, University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom.
The second article, which also focuses on Ghana, examines sovereign wealth funds. In particular, the article asserts that, while the act establishing the Ghana Petroleum Funds (GPF) provides clear legal and governance frameworks, flaws in the act could hinder the effectiveness of the GPF. For example, the act does not sufficiently empower some of the oversight mechanisms that are vital for the efficient management of any sovereign wealth fund. Evaristus Oshionebo, Associate Professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, is the author.
Switching gears, the third article considers Africa's need to encourage technology absorption as a means of addressing climate technology gaps on the continent. Damilola S Olawuyi, an associate professor of law at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar, and a senior visiting research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, examines how African countries can proactively address current technology gaps by strengthening domestic capacities to absorb and deploy climate technologies imported from abroad.
Article four takes a close look at the petro-sector institutions recently established to govern Tanzania's newfound significant gas and petroleum reserves. Bryan Lee, an international development professional, and Kendra Dupuy, a senior adviser with the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre in Bergen, Norway, analyse the authority granted to the institutions, institutional constraints and accountability and transparency mechanisms.
This issue's final article critically assesses environmental impact assessment (EIA) legislation and sustainable development of oil sands projects in Madagascar. Authors Chilenye Nwapi, Research Fellow at the Canadian Institute of Resources Law, and Oscar Nliam, Associate Partner at Kenna Partners in Lagos, Nigeria, ask whether Madagascar's EIA legislation will promote sustainable development of the oil sands projects by providing for adequate environmental scrutiny.
This special issue closes with a review of Hydraulic Fracturing in the Karoo: Critical Legal and Environmental Perspectives. Reviewer Hugo Meyer van den Berg, a partner at Koep & Partners, Windhoek, Namibia, provides insightful consideration of this new book and concludes that it will be a valuable resource for anyone concerned with the environmental impacts and associated regulation of hydraulic fracturing.
Notes
1 IEA, ‘Africa Energy Outlook: A Focus on Energy Prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa’ World Energy Outlook Special Report, 2014, 17, www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/WEO2014_AfricaEnergyOutlook.pdf.
2 Ibid, at 16, www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/WEO2014_AfricaEnergyOutlook.pdf.
4 Kofi Annan, Foreword to ‘Power People Planet: Seizing Africa's Energy and Climate Opportunities Africa Progress Report 2015’, 5, www.africaprogresspanel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/APP_executive-summary_2015_ENG.pdf.
5 Michael Waiyaki Nganga, ‘Understanding Africa's energy needs’ World Economic Forum, 17 November 2016, www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/understanding-africas-energy-needs.
6 See n 4, above.
7 See n 5, above.
8 The Economist, ‘Good night, gloom’ Special Report Technology in Africa, 11 November 2017, 5.
9 Africa Progress Panel ‘Power People Planet’, 2015, 8, www.africaprogresspanel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/APP_executive-summary_2015_ENG.pdf.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 See n 1 above, at 16.
13 See n 9 above, at 24.
14 See n 1 above, at 16.