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Frompage2 July 31, 2023 to send a strong signal to the country’s leaders that the robbery of the country’s resources must not be allowed to continue.

He said, “Can you please stay home Monday,ThedaybeforeEmancipationDay, tostartemancipatingourselvesfromthistype of slavery, to show these...leaders in both camps that we will not sit silent any longer and allow them to take bribes from the foreignerstoselloutourfuture.”

Todootherwise,thenewspaperPublisher believesGuyanawillheadbacktothedaysof slavery and indentureship. Lall urged, “This reap,rapeandrobmusttocometoafullstop, let’s be unified, shut shop, stay home on Monday, let’s show them the power of the people.”

UgandanPresidentcallsforendto ‘moderndayslavery’inAfrica

While Lall has been leading the charge locally for Guyana to benefit more from its natural resources, leaders on the African Continent too have been taking a stand against the exploitation of its resources, demanding it be paid more to feed their people.

Recently, the President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni during a high level meetingwiththeRussianPresident,Vladimir Putin and other Heads of States pointed out that while Africa is paid US$2.5 for a kilogram of coffee, the product is refined outsideofhiscountryandisresoldatUS$40 perkilogram.

ThePresidentsaid,“TheGlobalvalueof coffee businesses is currently is US$460 billion,thisisthevalueofcoffeeintheworld, howeverallthecoffeeproducingcountriesin theworld-Africa,Brazil,Colombia,Vietnam takeonlyUS$25billionoutofthis.”

President Museveni was keen to note that Africa’s share is US$2.5 billion of the US$460billion,withUgandatakingUS$800 million. On the other hand, he highlighted that Germany, a known coffee producing country earns US$6.58 billion from its coffee, or more than all the African coffee producingcountries.

Accordingtohim,“Thisispartofmodern slavery, this is the modern slavery,” as he went on explain the cause of the issue. Museveni noted that Africa is being locked into, and is more so locking itself into producingalltherawmaterialsinagriculture, minerals, etcetera all to the detriment of its economy

The room was notably uncomfortable as hedescribedthesituationas“thehemorrhage thathasstuntedAfrica’sgrowth.”

He explained that there are other instances where this was occurring as he noted if this is addressed; Africa’s food problem too could also be partially addressed.

John Hess, CEO of Hess Corporation, has detailed how the pandemic restrictions affected the mobility of workers and the operation of three explorationrigs,leadingtoa temporary pause in explorationdrilling.

Despitethesechallenges, the ExxonMobil-led consortium has made significant strides in the Stabroek Block. Since the discoveryoftheLizafieldin 2015, over 30 commercial discoverieshavebeenmade, amounting to 11 billion oilequivalent barrels The companies continue to see multi-billion-barrel potentialintheirexploration efforts.

ExxonMobiloperatesthe Block, holding a 45% stake, with Hess and CNOOC owning30%and25%shares respectively The rich resources of the Stabroek Block have led ExxonMobil toplanfortheproductionof 1.2 million barrels of crude per day by 2027, with the potentialtoexceed2million bpd in the subsequent decade.

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