The following page was written by Irene Gerlach and supports the talk she gave at the summer school 2008.
background
Both the US and Europe are becoming increasingly dependent upon Sub-Saharan Africa for their oil and gas supply, as energy demand increases due to rising competition from China and India and the US desire to reduce its dependence on the Middle East.
Of strategic and geo-political importance to the US, Europe and now China are the Gulf of Guinea States, which include Nigeria, Angola, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo DRC, Cameroon, Sao Tome & Principe, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Ghana. Nigeria and Angola are the largest producers: Nigeria has estimated proven oil reserves of 36.2bn barrels [Heady excitement damped by doubt]; Angola has estimated proven reserves of 9bn barrels which will continue to rise as new discoveries are made [country analysis briefs].
Oil has become synonymous with violent conflict. The Niger Delta is a case in point, where a violent armed struggle is escalating for the control of the oil resources, which regularly threatens oil supply and keeps the price of oil high. Angola is currently producing more oil than Nigeria due to militant attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta as well as the lucrative business of oil bunkering – or funding an insurgency. This has reduced production from 2.5m barrels to 1.5m barrels per day.
The major oil companies face new and more difficult challenges. As well as increased insecurity with their onshore and now offshore operations, Production Sharing Agreements are being renegotiated in both Angola and Nigeria due to the high oil price. Moreover, the major oil companies that have held an unchallenged monopoly in the global energy market face new competition from other state oil companies from China, India and Russia.
For the US and Europe “There is a primary shift from training peacekeepers missions in Africa to training for counter-terrorism and energy security”. [Lubeck, P (2007) “Convergent Interests: US Energy Security and the Security of Nigerian Democracy” International Policy Report, Feb 2007, cited in The Gulf of Guinea Citizens Network: A Regional Advocacy Project for the Gulf of Guinea States.] Internal security capabilities within the Gulf of Guinea States are being enhanced enabling national security authorities to control (or suppress) the host communities. [The Scramble for African oil”, New African, July 2006]
why is there such poor reporting across the Africa region on oil and gas? Why does it matter?
Investigative reporting is critical because of the strategic importance of oil for both Africa and the West. Oil investment in Sub-Saharan Africa represents 50% of all foreign direct investment. [Watts, M (2006), Empire of Oil: Capitalist Dispossession and the Scramble for Africa, Monthly Review, Vol 58, 4]. In countries where corruption and unaccountability are endemic and human rights are violated with impunity, the media is the only way to expose such abuses. As the World Bank stated in 2001: “There is no more effective check on corrupt officials, bribe takers, embezzlers and those who waste public funds than a hard-nosed investigative journalist”. Oil promotes all of these abuses of power and contributes to global political instability and climate change.
Too often, conflicts in these oil-producing states are reported as ethnic/tribal issues or greed versus grievance. The reality is that these conflicts are far more complex, involving both local and international actors. Investigative journalists should reflect this in their reporting and expose the direct links between oil consumption, energy security in the West and conflict in these oil producing states. Put another way, events in Iraq and the Gulf of Guinea are related and should not be seen as individual isolated cases.
There is a lack of critical investigation regarding the oil companies and the Corporate Social Responsibility rhetoric behind which they hide. Moreover, there is now a plethora of voluntary initiatives that oil companies sign up to such as Blair’s flagship project the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative or the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights which provide a buffer to oil and mining companies against mandatory regulations. These voluntary initiatives are driven by a normative response towards the protection of human rights by Western governments, inter-governmental organisations and NGOs. Yet the real politick on global energy security promotes an unregulated oil industry in which the securing of oil is the prime objective. Thus these initiatives might have good intentions but do they work in practice?
There is very little investigative reporting about the role of AFRICOM (the US Africa Command) and its implications for the African continent. The question that lies begging is what is the real purpose of AFRICOM? The Bush administration promoted it as a panacea for all of African woes; that it will solve the problems plagued by the continent and promote security, democratisation, access to health and education and improve economic growth. It is also part of the US global war on terror (GWOT), with Africa viewed as the “world’s soft underbelly” for global terrorism [Isike, Uzodike & Gilbert (2008) The United States African Command: Enhancing American security or fostering African development? Institute for Security Studies, African Security Review 17.1 p.26, quote from Susan Rice, Under-secretary of State, (2002)]. But for the sceptics and cynics this is seen little more than a further extension of US imperialism, a recolonisation of Africa, in which energy security is the raison d’étre. It is unlikely that an already overstretched US military would put troops into “Africa’s oil triangle”, however, there is an increasing market niche for private security companies to fill that void.
practical suggestions for improving investigative journalism on the reporting of oil
Global Networking: There is a need for the bringing together of investigative journalists from the Gulf of Guinea states, other parts of sub-Saharan Africa and other regions of the world to share their experiences regarding the investigative reporting of oil.
A need to broaden and strengthen links with UK and US investigative journalists who are reporting on oil and gas exploitation within the Gulf of Guinea states and throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
To build the capacity of journalists who are interested in investigative reporting and monitoring of oil and gas at the early stages, (Sao Tome, Ghana, Niger, Uganda), who could learn from journalists who are already actively reporting from mature petro-states like Nigeria and Angola.
To begin the process of building and strengthening an independent media to enable more effective investigative journalism on the reporting of oil and gas exploitation, taking into consideration legal obstructions such as the Freedom of Information Act and the State Security Act; weak institutional support and poor resources; and journalists under constant threat.
To be willing to critically examine the oil industry, which not only includes the oil companies but their contractors as well. Don’t just buy what is on offer. Ignore the Government and Public Affairs Department who court the media and act as the gatekeeper, but get to the personnel that are in the driving seat at the strategic and policy level and those working in the operational field.
Oil and the Gulf of Guinea – Irene Gerlach – July 2008