Africa and Oil
The continent of Africa has several countries that are rich in oil reserves:
--> Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, Chad, Sudan, Mauretania, Sao Tome and Principe, and Equatorial Guinea
The United States wants to reduce oil imports from the Middle East. Options include mandating more fuel-efficient cars, drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, puruse gas hydrates on the continental shelf, increase deep drilling, and/or, increase imports from Africa. Currently, the United States gets 15% of its oil from Africa, and it could be as much as 25% by 2015.
African Oil Policy Initiative Group - AOPIG
In early 2002, the working group called the African Oil Policy Initiative Groups (AOPIG) was created. This group was composed of Congressional members, representatives from various offices in the Bush Administration as well as oil companies, U.S. investors and international consultants. AOPIG then created a blueprint for energy investment in Africa that the Administration has been closely following. AOPIG recommendations are divided into three categories Energy Security, Developmental Strategies, and Regional Security - all encompassing the same theme of securing oil and strategic mineral resources.
Not everyone is a fan of AOPIG and America's connection, however. When Colin Powell represented the USA at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, he stayed at the Summit for only 24 hours. Some people question how oil projects can be viewed as an example of positive development in Africa. For example, Nigeria is the largest producer and exporter of oil in Africa, exports millions of dollars in oil per year: over $300 billion worth has been pumped from the Niger Delta in the last four decades, yet the population lives in terrible poverty. According to the United Nations, seventy percent of Nigeria's population lives on less than $1 dollar a day, and the poorest fifth of the population received only four percent of the nation's wealth. The percentage of people living in poverty has more than doubled since 1980, despite the government collecting an estimated $14 billion a year in oil revenue.
The impoverished oil-rich countries of the Middle East and West Africa are a reminder that oil money does not end up where it is needed most. Is it a coincidence that in country after country, oil windfalls have been embezzled or mismanaged, public spending has spiralled to unsustainable levels, industries have died off, civil strife has grown and poverty has worsened? Political scientists cannot report on one single example of oil leading to long-term positive outcomes in developing countries anywhere on the globe. This is something to keep in mind as you read about Sudan and Nigeria...
