Tanzania Energy Summit: A Moment African Leaders Must Seize
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Later this month, African leaders and policymakers will gather at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – East Africa’s most populous city – for the highly anticipated “Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit.”

Mission 300 is an initiative to provide electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030. Success would have profound implications for a continent that has more than 600 million lacking basic access to electricity and millions more with unreliable power supplies that stifle economic development.

However, summit supporters – the World Bank and African Development Bank – have opposed fossil fuel projects in the recent past. Meeting the Mission 300 objective will require Africa’s heads of state to be bold – and unyielding – in pressing their intentions to utilize hydrocarbons to generate electricity.

Africa’s Time to Prosper

For too long, African nations have been caught between climate commitments that discourage the use of fossil fuels and a desperate need for the reliable energy that coal, oil and natural gas provide.

The time has come for African leaders to unapologetically embrace their natural resources and chart a course that prioritizes citizens' needs over a vacuous international agenda based on pseudoscience and power politics.

From the Niger Delta to Angola’s offshore drilling rigs, hydrocarbons have contributed to national budgets and export revenues. Africa holds an estimated 125 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 620 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. South Africa alone has nearly 11 billion tons of coal.

These resources, if properly developed, could transform the continent's economic landscape. Barely scratching the surface of their potential are Nigeria, Angola, Libya, and newer players like South Sudan, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania, Gabon, Senegal and Mauritania.

Despite the abundance of resources, the continent's per capita energy consumption remains among the lowest in the world. Energy poverty exacts a devastating toll on human development, healthcare delivery and educational opportunities.

Path to Energy Development Emerging

NJ Ayuk, a phenomenal voice for the energy rights of Africans, believes that proper energy policies would provide an unrivaled opportunity to attract new manufacturing and billions of dollars of investments.

The multiplier effect of a robust energy sector cannot be overstated. From petrochemicals to fertilizers, from manufacturing to technology services, downstream opportunities can create millions of jobs and expand the middle class that Africa needs. Consider the experience of countries like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which have leveraged hydrocarbon resources to build modern, diversified economies.

But it has not been easy for African nations. Germany’s recommissioning of coal plants, Norway’s continued issuance of drill permits, and the U.S.’s record-breaking oil production in 2024 highlight Western duplicity in discouraging African use of fossil fuels while pursuing energy abundance and autonomy at home.

The African Energy Chamber, of which Ayuk is the executive chairman, sought the help of American groups in litigating against the Net-Zero Banking Alliance of its members’ pledge to deny financing for oil and gas development in Africa.

“The truth is there has been substantial evidence of collusion and anti-competitive behavior within the financial sector that hurts the African oil and natural gas sector and our fight to beat energy poverty,” said Ayuk. “These banks impose aggressive ... sustainability goals on businesses that want to invest in our energy sector (and) by so doing they are undermining fair competition.”

Thankfully, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance is crumbling. Since December, all the major banks – including Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America – have pulled out of the organization. Although it remains to be seen if the banks individually will abandon their coercive practices, the election of incoming American President Donald Trump – a fan of fossil fuels – has the future for investments in the African energy sector looking brighter.

The Tanzania conference presents a moment for African leaders to seize. Delegates must remember that they will be judged not on how well they conform to external expectations but on how effectively they stand for their right to use African resources to lift people out of poverty and build strong, resilient economies.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Science and Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition, Fairfax, Virginia. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor’s in engineering from Anna University, India.