Human rights activists from across the African continent that converged in Durban, South Africa recently for a conference which was convened by Oilwatch Africa and Groundwork South Africa have warned that Africa is facing another round of colonisation that threatens livelihoods and ecology. The thrust of the conference was the renewed focus on Africa as one of the fastest growing sources of oil and gas for the global markets amidst tightening oil supplies, spike in oil prices, low sulphur content of the oil found in Africa and an equally growing appetite for fuel by emerging global economic powers like China, India and Korea.

According to Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth (Era/FoEN), participants at the conference stressed that increased attention on Africa has meant the increase in offshore exploration in traditional crude oil exporting countries from around the gulf of Guinea like Nigeria and Angola, and increased exploratory activities in the Horn of Africa.

Nigeria’s Niger Delta and South America served as case studies of what happens when multinational companies dig underneath people’s land in the search for oil, while fears of a replication in countries like Angola, Ghana and Mali were raised going by the activities of transnational oil companies mainly from the United States of America (USA) and China that have commenced what could be termed as a new “Scramble for Africa”. Nnimmo Bassey, executive director Era/FoEN included in his presentation entitled “The Future of Crude Oil is Already History” profiled the  environmental degradation in the Niger Delta in the last 50 years, stressing that fallouts of oil exploration include socio-economic displacement of the locals, pollution-induced sicknesses and violent conflicts in the region. His exposure included the horrendous facts of the gas flaring resulting to the loss of $15 million daily despite a court ruling in 2005 outlawing the practice, and over 6, 817 documented oil spills in Nigeria since 1976.

“The announcement of oil find in any territory is comparable to the declaration of war against the territory,” Bassey said. Yvonne Yanez, co-ordinator of Oilwatch South America, explained that an initiative on keeping the oil underground, gave participants a vivid description of the devastation that would occur within the Yasuni Forest Reserve, one of the richest bio-diverse zones currently endangered by the extractive industry in Ecuador.
She said Oilwatch International in 2006 adopted the campaign calling for oil in the Yasuni reserve to be left underground; calling on Oilwatch Africa member countries to emulate the Yasuni struggle since the human and environmental costs of fossil fuel extraction far outweighs any gain that accrues from it.

Activists from countries such as Ghana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mauritius, among others also took time to share their ugly experiences.All were unanimous that oil extraction activities as shown in the cases of the Niger Delta or Angola, South America and several other places have been a curse rather than blessing to the indigenous people under whose soil oil is being tapped.This is in light of water and air pollution and gross human rights abuses usually perpetrated by military personnel hired by multinationals in collaboration with the governments of such countries, the non-governmental organisation maintained.

The high point of the conference was a tour of South Durban refinery sites tagged “Toxic Tour”, which afforded participants an opportunity to visit and have a first hand view and experience of refineries in South Durban have on the communities. The refineries included Engen Refineries, Sapref (Shell and BP) Refinery and Mondi Paper Mill which equally pollutes the air around the area.

 

A major fallout of the conference which drew about 50 participants from 23 African countries and USA, Norway and China, was the agreement of activists to work closely in their role as vanguards of environmental justice in their various countries.

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