Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum said on June 14 that African countries were “punished” by the decisions of Western countries aimed at ending the financing of projects linked to fossil fuels as of this year. “We will continue to fight, we have fossil resources that must be exploited”, he pleaded in Abidjan, at the end of the Africa CEO Forum, an economic summit bringing together 1,500 business leaders and political decision-makers. At the end of May, the G7 countries notably undertook to put an end to all international financing of projects linked to fossil fuels without carbon capture techniques as of this year. Twenty countries had already signed a declaration to this effect last November, during COP 26 in Glasgow.
The Nigerien president and his Senegalese counterpart intend to exploit natural resources.
“At one point, companies had considered exploiting Niger’s coal. But with these measures, there is no bank that is ready to commit, we are being punished.”
Mohamed Bazoum, President of Nigerat the Africa CEO Forum Conference
“Let the African continent be allowed to exploit its natural resources! It is nevertheless inconceivable that those who have exploited oil and its derivatives for more than a century should prevent African countries from developing their resources.”
Macky Sall, President of Senegalat the Africa CEO Forum Conference
The Senegalese president hopes that the COP 27 which will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh from November 7 to 18 will make it possible to obtain “a balanced agreement that takes into account the African reality”. Senegal is engaged in a major gas project and is counting on cooperation from the West.
The issue of food security was also discussed, at a time when Africa fears a shortage of several products such as wheat imported from Russia, due to the war in Ukraine. “Africa must be able to obtain from all its partners, in particular from the West, that we find a mechanism – as Europe has done for gas – which allows us to continue to import fertilizers and wheat from Russia without difficulty of payment”pleaded Macky Sall.
“If we don’t have the fertilizers, for our local grains which are important in our diet, we will be at risk of real starvation.”
Macky Sall, President of Senegalat the Africa CEO Forum Conference
Even before the war in Ukraine, food insecurity had increased in the world due to conflicts, climatic and economic crises. But the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has aggravated the crisis, with the two countries alone accounting for 30% of the world’s wheat trade.