Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni condemned the West for its "reprehensible double standard", as European countries are reinvesting in its fossil fuels while criticizing Africa for the same initiatives.
“For some years we have been told fossil fuel investment in Africa for Africans is unacceptable. Now with Europe reinvesting in its own fossil fuel power industry, this is the purest hypocrisy. It makes a mockery of Western commitments to climate targets,” the president tweeted.
Giving an example of hypocrisy, Museveni recalled a recent decision to dismantle a wind farm in Germany to build a new coal mine instead, adding that such things are no surprise for Africans.
These statements of Uganda's President were made amidst the ongoing climate summit COP27, that is taking place until November 18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. One of the summit's main topics is the "loss and damage" issue and discussion of compensation for the countries most affected by climate change.
Museveni also pointed to Africa's negligible contribution to environmental pollution.
“If Africa was to increase electricity production just by using her known reserves of natural gas, the continent’s share of global emissions would rise from 3% to just 3.5%,” Museveni explained.
In addition, the African leader argued that his country will not agree to “one rule for them and another rule for us”, saying that Europeans cannot expect to use Africa's fossil fuels for their own energy production while refusing to accept that Africans would do the same.
Museveni condemned the West’s desire to make Africa develop renewable energy only, as it doesn’t always fulfill the electricity request.
“Instead [of investing in African fossil fuels] Western money has poured into wind and solar projects that receive applause from the virtuous in the corridors of Congress and the chancelleries of Europe-but leave Africans without electricity when the wind does not blow, and the sun does not shine,” he noted.
The head of state also mentioned that Europe, which struggles to provide climate support to African countries, has spent $25 billion in six months this year to finance Ukraine's fight against Russia, which analysts say is enough to achieve universal access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“IEA estimates [that this amount of money could] raise 600 million people out of energy poverty by 2030,” Museveni stated.
A recent IEA report indicated that the number of people without electricity access worldwide is expected to rise by approximately 20 million in 2022, reaching 775 million. Notably, the increase in the number will affect Africa the most. It’s estimated that Africans, living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Madagascar are going to suffer the rise more than others. Ethiopia is also expected to be hit by the rise due to the rapid growth of its population.
According to IEA analysts, around $20 billion is needed to provide all Sub-Saharan Africa with electricity by 2030.
The African president stated that regardless of Europe's action or inaction, Africa will get through the difficulties on its own and with the help of those, who will not "sermonize".
“Europe’s failure to meet its climate goals should not be Africa’s problem,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Europeans have repeatedly opposed African initiatives to develop the continent's natural resources and provide its population with electricity.
For instance, in late September, French TotalEnergy representative was summoned by the European Parliament to justify the company's contribution to the development of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), initiated by Uganda and Tanzania. The EACOP, that is going to run from Lake Albert in western Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga on the Indian Ocean, gives hope to hundreds millions of Africans that power outages will end. However, earlier in September, the EU resolution blamed the EACOP project in "posing environmental risks" and urged to stop its construction, which resulted in a TotalEnergy's representative being called to account.
At the same time, when Europeans are in need for conventional energy sourses, they have no hessitation to use the African ones and also don't always do it legally. In particular, in early November, the British subsidiary of the multinational mining corporation Glencore was found guilty to seven counts of bribery in Africa between 2011 and 2016 and therefore was ordered to pay a fine of approximately £280Mln ($310Mln). It was found that the corporation has transported a total of $28 million in bribes to five African countries in exchange for the access to oil, increased cargoes, valuable grades of oil and preferable dates of delivery.
Earlier, Sudanese-British billionaire Mo Ibrahim emphasized that Africans are in desperate need of electricity, while the West attempts to prevent the continent from developing its own energy sector by halting funding for fossil fuel-related projects.
Ibrahim also stated that Africa has a wealth of resources, including fossil fuels, renewables, and minerals required for green technology, and urged the Global North to invest in African energy sources. He did, however, warn that "contracts must be transparent and clean."
In addition, Ibrahim said that annual illicit financial flows out of Africa range between 89 and 107 billion dollars, while the North's total aid to Africa is around 52 billion dollars. "Who is funding whom?" the businessman asked.