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Why Uganda is investing in oil despite pressures to go green
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This section of the Rift Valley - a geological scar which runs through East Africa - is being transformed by a fledgling oil business.
There are environmental concerns and questions over whether it is too late for an oil boom - but there is no disputing that change is coming to the wide valley floor, below the steep escarpment.
One end is dotted with iron-sheet houses, at the other excavators are busy clearing ground for what will be the Kingfisher oil field’s main processing facility in mid-western Uganda.
A once-treacherous dirt road leading down the valley side is now a winding tarmacked route which carries the equipment needed.
Close to where waves lap the shore of the lake, an environmental officer checks that the cap on an oil well head is airtight and free of gas leaks.
It is hoped that by 2025 the first of a potential 1.4 billion barrels of oil will be pumped from this and other wells across this region.
At the beginning of the month, Uganda, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and France’s TotalEnergies signed the Final Investment Decision (FID), a major step towards developing the country’s oil and gas industry.
More than $10bn (£7.4bn) will be invested in the joint venture. The money will be used to develop several upstream facilities as well as the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, which will run for 1,400km (870 miles) from landlocked Uganda to the port of Tanga in neighbouring Tanzania.
Grazing land cleared
At another Ugandan oil field - still close to Lake Albert but 100km north-east of Kingfisher - dozens of earthmovers criss-cross a construction site for TotalEnergies’ processing facility.
This is where the crude oil will be cleaned of impurities and separated from gas before being pumped to a refinery about 100km away.
A huge section of more than 300 hectares (740 acres) of what was formerly grazing land has already been cleared, and the construction work raises thick plumes of dust.
More than 600 local people have already been affected by the purchase of the land for the site.
Other activities, including a feeder pipeline, roads and wells, will affect another 4,000 people.
Officials from the French multinational say that 60% of them have been fully compensated.
But not Fausta Tumuhairwe, whose life has been disrupted twice.
She gave up more than half a hectare of farmland to make way for the oil refinery, and in 2017, was relocated and compensated with land and a house.
In 2020, just as she was settling in about 6km from her original village, planting bananas and coffee, a piece of her new land was acquired for the Tilenga feeder pipeline.
The single mother of four is still awaiting compensation for that which she says has taken away her “sense of independence”.
“My land is like my bank. I grow food, get an income, and pay my children’s school fees. I cannot use it for long-term crops such as coffee once it has been [earmarked for development].”
But not everyone is unhappy - Fidelis Kiiza and a group of nine other people in Buhumuriro village gave up parts of their farmland for a feeder pipeline that will carry oil from CNOOC’s Kingfisher field to the refinery.
On top of being compensated for their land, they also benefited from a livelihoods restoration programme.
“We received pigs and a bull, to rear as a group… Our sources of income have increased. So even though the oil hasn’t started flowing, we are seeing some benefits,” he says.
Villages where maize and cassava farms once flourished will soon be industrial areas. And while people have benefitted from the compensation there are still questions over whether the disruption to their way of life will be worth it.
There are hopes that local people can take advantage of the job opportunities. According to the legislation that established the oil sector, 16 employment areas, including hospitality, information technology and security, have been ringfenced for Ugandans.
In addition, facilities like a newly tarmacked road will make it easier for fishermen to transport their catch to market, and refinery by-products such as fertiliser, might improve productive sectors like agriculture.
White elephant fears
But there is a bigger question about whether Uganda as a country will benefit as richer economies shift to greener energy.
It has taken 15 years to reach this point, and the oil is still not promised for another three, and in that time, the global picture has changed.
A group of more than 50 nongovernmental organisations from Uganda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo released a statement after the FID was signed this month, saying the investment would have been better directed to cleaner and greener industries instead of “worsening the climate change impact across the world”.
There is a fear that the huge infrastructure development that has been constructed just for the oil industry - such as an airport with a 3.5km runway - could end up as white elephants if the oil export does not work out.
“If energy transition [away from oil] takes root, there is a risk of stranded assets; where some of the investment you make in the oil production infrastructure does not provide a good return to the country,” says Paul Bagabo, the Uganda country lead for the Natural Resource Governance Institute.
But Proscovia Nabbanja, the chief executive of the Uganda National Oil Company, says the project is viable and promises that for “every dollar we invest, we return 10”.
“I don’t think that is bad economics.”
Ms Nabbanja argues that talk from wealthier nations about moving away from oil is unfair to countries like Uganda which should be able to benefit from their resources.
“In Africa we are dealing with energy poverty. The bigger issue we have is the use of [wood for fuel].
“In Uganda we are losing 120,000 hectares of forest every year. So, when someone tells you about energy transition, you must ask: ‘Transition from what?’”
And while acknowledging the fact that the oil lies in a sensitive ecological zone, Ms Nabbanja says efforts are being made to reduce the environmental impact.
The environmental damage that oil has caused in Nigeria serves as a warning and Uganda is wagering a lot on its oil.
It is hoped that oil can help change the economy, if it can be extracted before the move away from fossil fuels means that it will no longer be profitable.
Source: BBC
At another Ugandan oil field - still close to Lake Albert but 100km north-east of Kingfisher - dozens of earthmovers criss-cross a construction site for TotalEnergies’ processing facility. This is where the crude oil will be cleaned of impurities and separated from gas before being pumped to a refinery about 100km away.
The heat is unbearable; the haze merges the sky, lake and land; kingfishers dive and rise as if playing with the wind coming off Lake Albert, near vast oil reserves which Uganda wants to start exploiting.
Fausta Tumuhairwe has twice been affected by the plans to develop the oil infrastructure
Fidelis Kiiza and others received livestock in exchange for giving up their land
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AFCON Triumph: Senegal President rewards
By Amaechi Agbo
Senegal’s President Macky Sall on Tuesday rewarded the national football team the Teranga Lions with plots of land, National Honours as well as cash prizes, following the Terenga Lions victory in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, AFCON in Cameroon on Sunday.
The event took place at the presidential palace in the capital Dakar.
President Sall also appointed team members to the West African country’s prestigious Order of the Lion, as thousands of fans cheered outside the gates. “By your vital force and your creative genius, you have reversed the course of history,” the president said, standing on a podium beside the Cup of Nations trophy. “We dreamed of the cup, you built this dream and you made it come true,” he added. Led by Liverpool superstar Sadio Mane, Senegal overcame Mohamed Salah’s Pharaohs of Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shootout in Sunday’s final at the magnificent 60,000 seater Stade de Olembe, Yaounde in Cameroon. The game had finished goalless after extra time. The victory marked Senegal’s first success after over fifty years of fielding teams in the tournament and sparked jubilant celebrations across Dakar on Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of ecstatic fans also flooded the streets of the city of three million people on Monday -- which the government had declared a public holiday -- to greet the team as it returned from Cameroon. On Tuesday, the President announced a prize of the equivalent of some $87,000 for each team member, as well as a 200 square-metre (2,100 square-foot) plot of land in Dakar, and a 500 square-metre (5,400 square-foot) plot in the nearby city of Diamniadio. “There are no words to express you to our pride, our joy and our gratitude,” Sall said. The president also urged Senegal coach Aliou Cisse to lead his team to the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup, to be hosted by Qatar in November. Meanwhile, President Paul Biya of Cameroon has send a congratulated the people and Government of Senegal for the victory of its National team at AFCON. The 88 year old leader said, the Teranga Lions were worthy winners and true ambassadors. Senegal’s President Macky Sall with the AFCON trophy in Dakar on Tuesday
CAF confirms Abuja Stadium will host Nigeria vs Cote D’Ivoire AWCON qualifier
By Amaechi Agbo
Africa’s football ruling body, the Confederation of Africa Football, CAF have confirmed that the newly renovated Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja will host the first leg final qualifying match of the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, AWCON against Cote D’Ivoire next week.
“After a first round that saw heavyweights like Ghana fall, it is now time for the second and final qualifying round for the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2022
“The first leg is scheduled for February 16 to 18 2022 with the return leg set for February 21 to 23.
“Due to Kenya’s withdrawal, Uganda became the first team to officially join hosts Morocco for the final twelve-team tournament. Ten places remain to be filled,” CAF said on Tuesday.
According to the fixtures, dates and venues released, first leg matches will hold on 16, 17, 18 February 2022
Burundi will battle Djibouti at the Stade Urukundo, Ngozi; Zambia will take on Namibia at the Nkoloma Stadium, Lusaka; Guinea Bissau and Burkina Faso clash will hold at the Estadio 24 de Setembro, Bissau while Senegal will host Mali at the Stade Lat-Dior.
Others are: Togo vs Gabon at Stade de Kegué, Lomé; National Sports Stadium, Harare is the venue for Zimbabwe and Botswana clash; South Africa and Algeria will do battle at the Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg; Tunisia will lead Equatorial Guinea into Stade de Solimane, Solimane seeking to get past them while Nigeria’s Super Falcons will seek a revenge against the Baby Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja with Cameroon slugging it out against Gambia at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, Yaoundé.
The reverse fixtures will hold on 21, 22 or 23 February, 2022.
Nigeria reached the final round after overcoming Black Queens of Ghana 2-1 on aggregate last year.
Super Falcons training recently in Abuja PG30 2022 U-20 Women’s World Cup: CAF confirms dates for Nigeria/Senegal final qualifier >>>PG30
