Who is Financing Fossil Fuel
Expansion in Africa?

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Who is Financing Fossil Fuel
Expansion in Africa?

Published by:#StopEACOP, 350 Africa, 350 Côte d’Ivoire, 350.org, AFIEGO (Uganda), African Climate Reality
Project (South Africa), Afrique Eco 2100, Alliance for Empowering Rural Communities (Ghana),
Appui aux Initiatives Communautaires de Conservation de l’Environnement et deDeveloppement Durable AICED (Democratic Republic of Congo), Association Bullaregia (Tunisia),
BankTrack (Netherlands), Care for Environment (Cameroon), Centre for Alternative Development(Uganda), Centre for Citizens Conserving Environment & Management – CECIC (Uganda),
Centre for Environmental Rights (South Africa), Citizens’ Network for Community Development
Zambia, Environment Governance Institute (Uganda), FPJAD (Democratic Republic of Congo),
Friends of the Earth International, Greater Whange Residents Trust (Zimbabwe),
Greenleaf Advocacy & Empowerment Center (Nigeria), groundWork (South Africa),
Health of Mother Earth Foundation (Nigeria), Initiatives pour le Changement, Paix et
Développement (Democratic Republic of Congo), Inter-Religious Council of Kenya,
Justiça Ambiental (Mozambique), Kishoka Youth Organization (Kenya), Laudato Si’ Movement
Africa, Lekeh Development Foundation (Nigeria), Les Amis de la Terre Afrique,
Les Amis de la Terre France, Life after Coal (South Africa), New Climate Vision (South Africa),
Oilwatch Africa, Port Harcourt WakaWaka (Nigeria), Rainforest Action Network (USA),
Reclaim Finance (France), Re:Common (Italy), Rettet den Regenwald (Germany),
RFPoPEE (Democratic Republic of Congo), Stand.earth, Stop Pollution (Tunisia),
Urgewald (Germany), Voice of the Vulnerables, Women for Green Economy Movement (Uganda),
Women’s Leadership and Training Programme (South Africa)
1Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Who is Financing
Fossil Fuel Expansion
in Africa?
Introduction
Africa is already in the midst of a climate emergency. Our communities, ecosystems and economies are experiencing ever more intense heatwaves, droughts, cyclones and catastrophic
floods. Millions of people in the Horn of Africa aresuffering famine and high water stress is expected
to displace up to 700 million Africans by 2030.
While Africa only accounts for around 3% of global
greenhouse gas emissions, we suffer disproportionately from each additional degree of global
warming. Ours is the most climate vulnerable
continent.

The majority of these projects are geared towards
exports and foreign companies often play an outsized role. Companies like Canada’s ReconAfrica,
which is opening up an area of over 34,000 km2
for oil drilling in the fragile ecosystem of the Kavango Basin. Or companies like France’s TotalEnergies, which is developing more new oil and gas
resources on the continent than any other company. Research by Oil Change International showsthat foreign multinational corporations own two
thirds of the projected new gas and oil productionin Africa to 2050.

In 2015, African states played a crucial role inensuring that the Paris climate negotiations
resulted in an agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. Yet our chance to achieve
this goal is quickly slipping away. IPCC and UNEP
warn that global greenhouse gas emissions mustbe halved by 2030 to keep a 1.5°C path within reach, yet the number one source of theseemissions – the fossil fuel industry – continues
to expand.

Fossil fuel industries have brought nothing but
conflicts, ecological and economic destabilization
to the continent. Ghana is on the brink of financial
distress due to “take-or-pay” contracts that require the government to pay hundreds of millionsof dollars each year for unused gas. In Mozambique, huge LNG projects have exacerbated a civil
war in the North and will do nothing for the 70% of
the country’s population that lack access to electricity. In Nigeria, six decades of fossil fuel extraction have turned the Niger Delta into one of themost polluted places on earth and destroyed thehealth and livelihoods of its communities, while
half of Nigeria’s population still has no access toelectricity. The current rush for Africa’s oil and gas
has nothing to do with increasing energy accessfor Africans. Its profits will overwhelmingly flow toa global elite, while local communities are again
left to deal with the pollution, impoverishment
and human rights violations that are the hallmark
of fossil fuel development.

This report looks at the expansion plans of fossil
fuel companies in Africa. Its findings are sobering: In 48 out of 55 African nations, oil, gas andcoal companies are either exploring or developing
new fossil reserves, building new fossil infrastructure such as pipelines or liquefied natural gas(LNG) terminals or developing new gas- and coalfired power plants. These enormous fossil expansion plans are completely incompatible with theParis goals and will lock African countries into an
obsolete and carbon-heavy energy path.

Instead of the dirty, polluting energy sources ofthe past, Africa and its people deserve the clean
renewable energy sources of the future. Africa
2Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Message of hope: Activists raise a wind turbine on the beach in Durban, South Africa. © Shayne Robinson / Greenpeacehas 39% of the world’s total renewable energy
potential, more than any other continent. Whilecentralized fossil fuel infrastructure has failed tobring energy to almost half of Africa’s population,
renewable energy technologies can deliver aflexible combination of grid-based, off-grid andmini-grid solutions to enable universal energy
access for all Africans. Renewable energy systems
are also more cost effective and resilient thantheir fossil counterparts.
62% of total renewable power generation thatwent online in the world last year already costless than the cheapest fossil fuel option, andthese costs will continue to fall. And investments
in renewables create three times as many jobs
as investments in fossil fuels. All across Africa,
civil society organizations are calling for a green
renewable energy future that preserves climate
stability and provides energy access to all.

But today’s investments are notshaping the Africa we want nor the
climate we need.

recent years, many of these financial institutions
have pledged to align their portfolios with theParis climate goals, but these promises aremeaningless as long as the very same institutions continue bankrolling a fossil future for ourcontinent.
This report identifies the financiers and investors behind 200 companies, which are flooding
Africa with new fossil fuel projects. None of thesecompanies are serious about transitioning. Allof these companies are pursuing reckless fossil
expansion plans that are incompatible with a
1.5°C climate path. We call on financial institutions to immediately cease all investments, loans
and financial services to them. With great urgency,
we cite the words of the late Desmond Tutu:“Move your money out of the
problem and into the solutions.”

Omar Elmawi, Stop EACOP Campaign
Lorraine Chiponda, African Coal Network
Anabela Lemos, Justiça Ambiental

Since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed,international financial institutions, both public
and private, have sunk hundreds of billions ofdollars into oil, gas and coal projects in Africa. In

Thuli Makama, Oil Change Africa
Nnimmo Bassey, Health of Mother Earth Foundation
Bobby Peek, groundWork

3Chapter I

4

Oil and Gas
ExpansionAcross Africa

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Oil production rig in the Red Sea, Egypt: The COP27 host is a top destination for companies prospecting for new oil and gas.
© Yana Mavlyutova / Shutterstock

Oil and gas companies have consistently ignored
the reports and urgent calls to action by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC)
and the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP). In 2021, the industry was, however,confronted with a call to action by a different
messenger, a messenger who is widely viewed
as the most authoritative issuer of energy market
projections and whose reports are regularly read by
the oil and gas industry. In 2021, the International
Energy Agency (IEA) issued its first Paris-aligned
energy scenario and roadmap for preventing global
temperatures from rising above 1.5°C. According

to this roadmap, exploration for new oil and gas
reserves should cease and no further oil and gas
fields should be developed beyond those that werealready underway in 2021.
But looking across Africa in 2022, we see that eventhe very clear message issued by the world’s mostinfluential energy agency has fallen on deaf ears.
The oil and gas industry remains on a reckless
expansion course. As Fatih Birol, executive directorof the IEA says: “The world’s hugely encouraging
clean energy momentum is running up against the
stubborn incumbency of fossil fuels.”15

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

I.1. Expansion Begins with Exploration
Since 2017, 886,000 km2 – an area larger than France
and Italy combined – have been licensed for oil and gas
exploration in Africa.2 Oil and gas companies are currently
searching for new hydrocarbon reserves in 45 Africancountries. And Egypt, the host of this year’s COP27
UN Climate Summit, is one of the top destinations forcompanies seeking to discover new oil and gas resourcesin Africa. While the climate negotiations proceed in

Sharm El Sheikh, 55 companies are prospecting for
new oil and gas in Egypt. The company with the highest
capital expenditures on oil and gas exploration in Egypt
since 2020 is Italy’s Eni, followed by BP from the UK and
APA Corporation from the US. The chart below shows
the 6 African countries, to which companies directed
the highest total capital expenditures on oil and gas
exploration since 2020.

Countries with the Highest Capital Expenditure on Oil and Gas Exploration
Country

Total exploration capex 2020-2022(mill. US$)

Companies which spent over US$ 100 million on
exploration 2020 – 2022

Algeria

3,256

Sonatrach

Egypt

1,744

Eni, BP, APA Corporation, Edison E&P

Nigeria

1,331

Shell, ExxonMobil, Sunlink, TotalEnergies

Namibia

1,124

Qatar Energy, Shell, TotalEnergies, Namcor, Maurel & Prom

Angola977

TotalEnergies, Sonangol, Eni

Mozambique

498

ExxonMobil

Source: Rystad Energy UCube
Urgewald’s analysis of Rystad Energy data shows thatcompanies’ total capital expenditures for oil and gas
exploration in Africa rose from US$ 3.4 billion in 2020 to
US$ 5.1 billion in 2022. African companies accounted forless than one third of this sum. The bulk of exploration
for new oil and gas resources in Africa is carried out andfinanced by foreign companies.

African fur seals are only found around the Namibian and South African coast. An oil spill could wreak havoc to their habitat.
© speedshutter Photography / Shutterstock6

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Capital Expenditure on Oil and Gas Exploration 2020 - 2022

TUNISIA
MOROCCOALGERIA
LIBYA

EGYPT

WESTERN
SAHARA

MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGER
ERITREASUDAN

SENEGALCHAD

THE GAMBIABURKINA FASOGUINEA-BISSAUGUINEASIERRALEONELIBERIADJIBOUTI
BENIN

COTE
D’IVOIRE

TOGO

NIGERIAGHANAETHIOPIA

SOUTH SUDANCENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLICCAMEROONSOMALIAGABONREPUBLIC
OF THECONGO

UGANDAKENYA

DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO

RWANDA
BURUNDITANZANIA

Exploration CapEx(Unit: million USD)
No exploration

ANGOLA

MALAWIZAMBIAMOZAMBIQUE

0 – 100
101 – 500
501 – 1000

MADAGASCARZIMBABWENAMIBIABOTSWANA

1001 – 2000

ESWATINI>2000
SOUTH AFRICALESOTHO

Data Source: Rystad Energy UCube, 14.09.2022

Out of the 45 African countries where the oil and gas
industry is prospecting for new finds, 18 are what theindustry calls “frontier countries”, i.e. countries that havelittle or no existing oil or gas production. One of thesecountries is Namibia, a nation that has the potential to
become a front-runner in renewable energy, but could
now be sucked into a maelstrom of hydrocarbon projects.

surface. “The deeper the find, the higher the accident
risk, and the harder it will be to contain an oil spill. Hereand in other parts of Africa, we see oil and gas extraction
becoming more and more risky and extreme,” says
Nils Bartsch, head of oil and gas research at Urgewald.
Currently, 44% of oil and gas exploration acreage in Africa
is in ultra deepwater areas.3

At the beginning of 2022, TotalEnergies and Shellannounced the discovery of huge oil and gas reserves in
the Orange Basin off the coast of Namibia. Both finds arein ultra deepwater, i.e. more than 1,500 meters below
sea level. Shell’s Graff-1 well is 2,000 meters and TotalEnergies’ Venus-1 well is 2,900 meters below the sea’s

Oil and gas exploration is also underway in the northeastof Namibia and across the border in Botswana. The
Canadian company ReconAfrica is currently drilling
test wells in the unique and fragile ecosystem of theKavango Basin, which is estimated to hold more than 30
billion barrels of crude oil.4
7

Case Study

Drilling for Oil in the
Okavango Region

Elephants in the Kavango Basin. © Jay Roode / Getty Images

In an area reaching from the northeast of Namibia to the northwestof Botswana, the Canadian company ReconAfrica is opening up a new oil
and gas frontier. Civil society organizations from both countries have called
for an immediate halt of oil and gas exploration as ReconAfrica’s planned
megaproject would cause immense harm to local communities and theregion’s rich wildlife.
ReconAfrica is searching for oil in the
Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Nature Conservation Area (KAZA), a protected and ecologically fragile area. The KAZA reaches across theborders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia
and Zimbabwe, and is nearly twice as large as
the United Kingdom. The Okavango River flows
right through the KAZA. Its water originates
as seasonal rain in Angola’s highlands. In
Botswana, the Okavango River
San communities say that fans out into the Kalahari Desert
ReconAfrica could destroy to form the Okavango Delta.
The Okavango Delta transforms
the water, plants andthis otherwise dry area into
animals their livelihoods
a waterlogged wetland that
depend on.
provides vital water resources
for animals, plants and overone million people.5 The Okavango Delta is
protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
ReconAfrica is exploring for oil in anarea that is sacred to the indigenous San. The
San have lived in Southern Africa, including
8

the lands around the Okavango River, for thousands of years. Historically, as hunter-gatherer
societies, they lived off the resources the land
provides. Although many San have lost accessto their lands as a result of European colonization, the Okavango River Basin still remains
their sacred traditional homeland. Today, many
dispossessed San communities rely on subsistence farming, hunting or jobs in the tourism
sector to support themselves. In 2020, several
San leaders embarked on a 300-mile “Walk tosave the Okavango Delta” and petitioned thegovernments of Namibia and Botswana to halt
drilling for oil and gas in the Okavango region.
San communities say they do not want ReconAfrica’s project on their ancestral lands andworry that it could destroy the water, plants andanimals their livelihoods depend on.
In total, more than 200,000 people livein the area that falls under ReconAfrica’s exploration licenses in the Kavango Basin.6 Many
locals only learned about the company’s plans

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

when ReconAfrica began drilling. The Canadiancompany moved into conservation areas,
cleared forests and drilled wells without theknowledge or approval of local communities.
In the rare cases where ReconAfrica provided
information, it did so only in English, not in
people’s native language. Again and again,
the company has been accused of disregarding
national and local regulations. Environmentalgroups have launched a lawsuit against ReconAfrica for clearing land without permission
and not compensating its owners. US investors have also taken ReconAfrica to court overenvironmentally reckless drilling plans and thelack of consultation of local communities in
Namibia and Botswana.
Today, the Okavango River is a lifeline
for the big five animal species: elephants,
buffalos, rhinos, lions and leopards. The
world’s largest remaining population of endangered savanna elephants lives in the region,next to giraffes, zebras, antelopes, pangolins,
400 bird species and over 1,000 plant species.7
The unique wildlife attracts tourists from nearand far.
Local communities and environmentalgroups are concerned what the region aroundthe Okavango River will look like if ReconAfrica
continues exploration and launches commercial oil production in the Kavango Basin. Drillrigs, connecting pipelines, pumping stations
and access roads would fragment the region,
disrupt hunting territories and obstruct migration routes.8 Income from tourism will dwindle
as tourists will not want to visit an industrialized oil landscape. In the worst case, an oil

spill could pollute the Okavango River andultimately also the Okavango Delta. Noise,
infrastructure construction, toxic chemicals
and oil spills from ReconAfrica’s project
threaten one of the world’s most magnificent
ecosystems as well as the people who dependon it.
In 2020, ReconAfrica published its
plan to extract the Kavango Basin’s oil and gas
through fracking. Fracking is especially controversial because it uses pressurized, waterbased, toxic chemicals to release fossil fuels
deep underground. Fracking consumes gigantic
amounts of water, increases the risk of earthquakes and frequently
contaminates
ground In total, more than 200,000
and surface water. It can people live in the area that falls
poison humans, animals under ReconAfrica’s explorationand entire food chains.
licenses in the Kavango BasinIn the face of massive
protests, the Canadian company felt compelled
to state “there is no intention for any fracking
activities”, but it’s hard to believe that fracking
is truly off the table for ReconAfrica.9
As a result of tireless protests bycommunity leaders and local, national andinternational environmental groups, UNESCO
announced that it plans to look into the potential effects of oil and gas exploration on the
Okavango Delta World Heritage Site. In themeantime, ReconAfrica is drilling exploration
wells in Namibia and the country’s energy
minister has confirmed that his government willaward the company with a 25-year production
license if oil is struck.10

Community protest against ReconAfrica. © Alexa Sedge and 350 Africa

9Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

All over Africa, civil society organizations are challenging
the oil and gas industry’s land and ocean grab for new
exploration areas. Over 50 civil society organizations from
Namibia and Botswana are campaigning for an immediate
moratorium on oil and gas exploration in the Kavango
Basin. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s decision tosell new oil and gas licenses in peat land forests andin protected areas, met with protests by national andinternational NGOs.11 Communities in South Africa went
to court against Shell’s plan to search for oil and gas
reserves in the seabed off South Africa’s “Wild Coast”
in the east of the country. The court sided with fishingcommunities and environmentalists and struck down
Shell’s permit to map the ocean floor for hydrocarbon
deposits in September 2022.12 And African Bishops
issued a joint declaration in 2021, saying: “Africa’s
natural habitats are being destroyed at an alarming rate
through the extraction of oil and gas. Oil companies are
abusing the rights of indigenous and rural people andforcing them off the land. Oil and gas exploration andexploitation are leading to political destabilization andincreased violence. We call for the immediate cessation offossil fuel exploration across Africa.”

I.2. Upstream Oil and Gas Expansion in Africa
Oil and gas is a capital-intensive industry and large
investments must be made before an oil or gas field
enters into production. The discovery of a new field
is, therefore, followed by an appraisal period, wherecompanies drill appraisal wells and undertake seismic
surveys to determine the size and quality of the resources.
If the appraisal determines that the extraction of oil andgas resources is commercially viable, the project moves
into the field evaluation stage. In this stage, companies
make decisions on the recovery method, the placementof wells, transport logistics etc. and develop a front-end
engineering and design plan. The final phase before an oil
and gas asset enters production is the development stage.
Financing agreements have already been negotiated, andnow wells are drilled and the actual infrastructure is built.

The time period from discovery to the begin of production
depends on many factors, but can take up to 10 years or
longer.
This report uses data from Urgewald’s Global Oil and Gas
Exit List (GOGEL) to assess which oil and gas companies
have the largest “short-term” upstream expansion plansin Africa. GOGEL’s short-term expansion metric only
includes oil and gas fields that are already in the field
evaluation or the development stage and which will be
brought into production within the next 1-7 years.13 It
does not include oil and gas assets that are still in the
exploration or appraisal phase and for which it is not yet
certain that companies plan to bring them into production.

Life Cycle Stages of an Oil and Gas Asset

Short-Term Expansion

Exploration

10

Appraisal

Field
Evaluation

Under
Development

ProducingWho is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Short-Term Upstream Oil & Gas Expansion 2022

TUNISIA
MOROCCOLIBYAALGERIAEGYPTWESTERN
SAHARA

MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGER

ERITREASUDAN

SENEGALCHAD

THE GAMBIABURKINA FASOGUINEA-BISSAUGUINEASIERRALEONELIBERIADJIBOUTI
BENIN

TOGO
COTE
D’IVOIRE

GHANA

NIGERIA

SOUTH SUDANCENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLICETHIOPIACAMEROONGABONSOMALIA

REPUBLIC
OF THECONGO

UGANDA

DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO

KENYA

RWANDA
BURUNDITANZANIAANGOLA

MALAWIZAMBIAMOZAMBIQUE

ZIMBABWE

MADAGASCARNAMIBIABOTSWANAESWATINI

Short-Term Expansion(Unit: million boe)

LESOTHO
SOUTH AFRICA

0 – 100

101 – 500

501 – 1000 1001 –2000 >2000
Data Source: Urgewald's calculation based on
Rystad Energy UCube 14.09.2022

All in all, oil and gas companies are preparing to add
at least 15.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent to theirproduction portfolios in Africa before 2030. The extraction
and combustion of these resources would release 8
Gigatons of CO2eq into the atmosphere – more than twice

the amount the EU emits each year.14 The countries where
the largest upstream oil and gas expansion is planned in
the near future are Mozambique, Nigeria, Algeria, Angola,
Uganda, Libya and Mauritania.

11Case StudyGreater Tortue Ahmeyim:
BP puts a Unique Ecosystem
at Risk

A floating production storage and offloading vessel in African waters.© HeliRy / Getty Images

Off the coast of Mauritania and Senegal, BP plans to extract andliquefy fossil gas in Africa’s deepest offshore project.15 BP’s project
threatens to lock both countries into a fossil development path andputs the world’s largest cold-water reef and migratory bird populations at risk.
Right on the maritime border between
the two West African countries, a consortiumof BP, Kosmos Energy, Société des Pétrolesdu Sénégal and Société Mauritanienne desHydrocarbures are developing two offshore gas
fields, Tortue and Ahmeyim. The companies
want to extract gas from ultra deep wells inwater depths of 2,850 meters.16
The gas will flow from Tortue andAhmeyim through an 80 km long underwater pipeline to a floating production, storageand offloading (FPSO) vessel where the gas
is cleaned. From here, the processed gas istransferred through a 35 km long underwater
pipeline to a floating LNG terminal. A 1 km long
breakwater out of concrete and rock will protect
the vessel and export carriers from harshweather and ocean conditions. Construction of
the LNG facility is almost finished, and BP aims
to begin production in 2023.17
The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA)
reserves hold almost 425 billion cubic metersof fossil gas. BP is already considering the12development of further fields in the basin,
which is estimated to hold up to 1,133 billion
cubic meters of gas.18 When burned, thesevast reserves would release around 2.2 billion
tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. BP’s plans
threaten to recklessly chip away between 0.3
and 1 percent of the remaining carbon budget
to limit global warming to a vital 1.5oC.19
While BP and the governments ofSenegal and Mauritania market GTA as aprestige project, local communities, environmentalists and researchers raise serious
concerns.20
In 2018, a group of international scientists advised the Mauritanian government toestablish marine conservation zones in thearea where BP wants to build the pipelines,
the FPSO and the LNG terminal.21 They also
demanded thorough environmental assessments for any fossil fuel development in theregion. Months later, 10 marine scientists
wrote an outraged letter to BP, stating thatthe company’s environmental impact assess-Case Study

ment downplays the serious ecological risks of
the GTA project for water birds and the marine
environment. The letter calls BP’s assessment of
expected impacts “fundamentally wrong”.22
The coast off Senegal and Mauritania isa unique region with a rich wildlife. It provides
a refuge for millions of water birds each year on
their journey between Africa and the Arctic. The
birds rely on these coastal waters to feed and reston their route. In this exact area, BP plans to build
the FPSO, the floating LNG terminal and the pipelines.23
Less than 5 km away from the planned
terminal lies Mauritania’s Dialing National Park,
home to 250 different species of birds.24 At asimilar distance in Senegalese waters, whales
and dolphins feed in the Marine Protected Areaof Saint-Louis. The Langue de Barbarie National
Park, a nesting site for sea turtles, is 15 km awayfrom BP’s planned LNG terminal. The Djoudi
National Park is only 35 km away. Djoudi, a large
wetland in the Senegal River Delta, is a sanctuary for over 1.5 million birds and protected asa UNESCO World Heritage site.25 Even closer tothe gas infrastructure lies the Guembeul Natural
Reserve. Flamingos, tortoises and monkeys live inthis important wetland.26
If BP goes through with its plans, it alsorisks destroying the world’s largest cold-watercoral reef.27 The reef stretches 580 km along theMauritanian coast down to Senegal. The coral
formations are 100 meters high and lie half akilometer below the sea’s surface. This uniqueecosystem took over 200,000 years to grow andstores enormous amounts of carbon.
The reef and the surrounding seafloor are
one of the most biodiverse areas of the Mauritanian coastline and are critical for the survival ofendemic species.28 Fish, crabs, giant clams andsponges live here, as well as black coral, one of theoldest living organisms on Earth. BP’s proposedgas pipelines will snake through one of the mostsensitive parts of the reef. The installation of thepipelines will swirl up the sediment, which could
suffocate the living corals and destroy the vivid
underwater world.29
The coral reef is an important habitat for
fishery resources in the region.30 For local fishingcommunities, the project is anightmare as they depend on If BP goes through withfish for their livelihood and as a its plans, it also risks
main source of protein. Artisanal
fisherfolk come here every day to destroying the worlds’
make a living for their families. largest cold-water coral
The safety zone BP is setting up reef.
around the breakwater structure
will significantly reduce their fishing area, but BP
has, up to now, not offered any compensation for
the fisher’s loss of income.31
A spill of condensate from BP’s wells
could poison the rich wildlife on the West African
coast and the livelihood of coastal fishers.32
Condensate is a byproduct of gas extraction that is
almost invisible and therefore extremely difficult
to clean up.33 Unless it is contained, a condensate spill would hit the coast of Mauritania andSenegal in less than a week. It would reach the
Mauritanian and Senegalese national parks,
the Saint-Louis Marine Protected Area and the
Guembeul Wetland Reserve. The poisonous
condensate would kill birds, whales, dolphins,
fish and other endangered animals on the West
African coast. The GTA project is a serious threat
to the coastal ecosystems and the people of
Mauritania and Senegal.

14 Okavango and 5 Protest People are protesting against ReconAfrica all around the world. © Alexa Sedge and 350 Africa
Cold water reef-building corals. © Frank Hecker / Alamy Stock Photo

13

An African Penguin covered in oil from a spill off of Robben
Island, South Africa © Martin Harvey / Alamy Stock Photo

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

14

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Who Are the Top 20 Companies Behind Upstream Oil and Gas Expansion in Africa?
20 companies account for over 80% of the short-term
upstream oil and gas expansion planned in Africa (seetable below). 13 of the top 20 companies in our ranking
are headquartered outside of Africa. All of the major
European oil and gas companies are among the top 20
expansionists in Africa, with the exception of Equinor. It
should, however, be noted that the Norwegian company

signed a framework agreement with the government of
Tanzania and Shell in 2022 to develop enormous gas
reserves off the coast of southern Tanzania.34 The project
has not yet progressed to the field evaluation stage andis therefore not covered in the short-term expansion data
for this report.

Top Upstream Oil & Gas Developers in Africa
CompanyCountry of Headquarters

Short-term Expansion(in mmboe)

TotalEnergies

France2,270

Sonatrach

Algeria

1,748

Eni

Italy

1,319

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

Nigeria

1,015

Mitsui & Co

Japan

718

Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH)

Mozambique

631

BP

United Kingdom

617

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)

India

574

National Oil Corporation (NOC)

Libya

490

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)

China

431

Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC)

Nigeria360

Bharat Petroleum Corporation

India

359

PTT Exploration and Production Public Company (PTTEP)

Thailand336

Sonangol

Angola308

Shell

United Kingdom

296

Kosmos Energy

United States

249

Exxon Mobil Corporation

United States

243

Springfield Exploration and Production

Ghana

235

Chevron Corporation

United States

207

POLY-GCL Petroleum Group Holdings

China

200

Source: Rystad Energy UCube

mmboe = million barrels of oil equivalent

In the following pages, we take a closer look at the threebiggest oil and gas expansionists in Africa.
15

TotalEnergies’ Oil and Gas Expansion Plans in Africa

MOROCCOShort-Term Expansion(Unit: million boe)
WESTERN
SAHARA

MAURITANIA

0 – 100

101 – 250

251 – 500

>500

MALI

SENEGAL

Midstream

THE GAMBIABURKINA FA

GUINEA-BISSAUGUINEA

Pipelines

SIERRALEONE

LNG Terminals
Gas Fired PowerCOTE
D’IVOIRE

GHANA

LIBERIA

TOGO

GHANA

Capital Expenditure(Unit: million USD)NIGERIA

No expenditure0 – 50CAMEROONCAMEROO

51 – 100
101 – 200
201 – 300
>300

TotalEnergies
The biggest developer of new upstream oil and gas
resources in Africa is TotalEnergies. The French oil andgas giant aims to add 2.27 billion barrels of oil equivalent
to its production portfolio in Africa and is responsible
for over 14% of short-term oil and gas expansion on thecontinent. In 2021, TotalEnergies’ total hydrocarbons
production equaled 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent,
16

GABON
out of which 25% came from Africa, mainly from Angola,
Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and the Republic of Congo.
On its webpage, the company states “Africa is at theheart of TotalEnergies’ global strategy.”35 What is true isthat TotalEnergies is on a fast track to expand its hold on
Africa’s hydrocarbon resources.

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

TUNISIA

ALGERIA
LIBYA
EGYPT

NIGER

ERITREA

SUDAN
CHAD

ASO

DJIBOUTI
BENIN

TOGO

A

NIGERIACENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLICCAMEROONCAMEROONSOMALIACENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICGABONETHIOPIA

SOUTH SUDAN

REPUBLIC
OF THECONGO

DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO

SOUTH SUDANUGANDAKENYA

RWANDA

BURUNDIONTANZANIATANZANIAREPUBL
DEMOCRATIC REPUBOF THE
LIC OF THE CONGOGABONRWANDA CONGOMALAWIANGOLAZAMBIAREPUBLIC
OF THECONGO

UGANDAMOZAMBIQUE

MADAGASCARZIMBABWESÃO TOMÉNAMIBIABOTSWANAESWATINI

SOUTH AFRICALESOTHO

BURUNDI

Data Sources: Global Oil and Gas Exit List, Urgewald
Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker, Global Energy Monitor [January 2022]
Rystad Energy UCube, 14.09.2022

TANZANIA
17

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Fisher communities and activists protest against offshore oil and gas exploration in South Africa. © The Green Connection

TotalEnergies is exploring for oil and gas in 15 Africancountries and recently made major discoveries such as
the Venus oil field off the coast of Namibia. The Venus
field is estimated to hold 3 billion barrels of recoverable
oil and is likely Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest oil discovery
to date.36

Oil Drilling at Walvis Bay, Namibia© 2016 TheLearningPhotographer/Shutterstock

In 2019 and 2020, TotalEnergies also discovered two
enormous gas fields, Luiperd and Brulpadda, off of South
Africa’s southern coast. Each of these fields is estimatedto hold over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.37 Luiperd
and Brulpadda are in an area of spectacular marine
biodiversity, which serves as a feeding and nesting
ground for thousands of whales and harbors endangered
leatherback turtles, seals, penguins, and fish populations
that are a mainstay of coastal fishers’ livelihoods.38 Public
opposition to TotalEnergies’ plans is growing rapidly.
18

Fishers all along South Africa’s coast are standing up
to defend their future. And a group of prominent South
African scientists recently condemned new offshore oiland gas development as “short-sighted, environmentallyirresponsible and morally indefensible” due to its impacts
on climate and the country’s marine ecosystems.39
Although the appraisal of the gas fields is still underway,
TotalEnergies already applied for a production license for
Luiperd-Brulpadda in September 2022. In Africa alone,
TotalEnergies has hydrocarbon reserves of at least 3.5
bboe (billion barrels of oil equivalent) that have not yet
entered the field evaluation stage.
In 2021, Total committed to become carbon neutral
by 2050 and rebranded itself as “TotalEnergies”
under the slogan “Transforming to reinvent energy”.
It even went so far as to create the Twitter hashtag:“#MoreEnergiesLessEmissions”. In March 2022,
Greenpeace, Les Amis de la Terre, Notre Affaire à Tous
and ClientEarth hit the company with a well-deserved
lawsuit, arguing that its advertising campaign is“disinformation PR and greenwashing”. “It’s easy tomake empty promises for 2050, but the reality is that
75% of TotalEnergies’ investments are still going into
fossil fuels. While the IPCC warns that emissions mustbe halved by 2030, TotalEnergies plans to produce 18%
more hydrocarbons in 2030 than it did in 2020,” says
Lucie Pinson, Director of Reclaim Finance.

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Sonatrach
The state-owned Algerian oil and gas company, Sonatrach,is the world’s 13th biggest hydrocarbon producer and thesecond largest developer of new upstream oil and gas
resources in Africa. Its activities are, however, almost
exclusively focused on Algeria, where it intends to add
1.75 billion barrels of oil equivalent to its production
portfolio in the next years. Sonatrach is also the company
with the highest exploration capex in Africa: It has spentover US$ 2.1 billion on oil and gas exploration since 2020.
Algeria’s first oil reserves were discovered in the late
1950s and today, the country’s entire economy is highly
dependent on fossil fuels. Oil and gas account for
60% of the government’s revenues and nearly 95% ofAlgeria’s export earnings.40 More than 75% of Algeria’s
oil and gas production is owned by Sonatrach and thecompany has been repeatedly embroiled in corruption
scandals. In 2022, an Algerian court sentenced Mohamed
Meziane, the former Sonatrach CEO, to 5 years in prisonand Abdelhafidh Feghouli, the former vice-president of
Sonatrach, to 6 years in prison due to corruption charges
involving the Italian engineering company Saipem.41
Algeria is the third largest exporter of gas to Europe andnew satellite research shows that Sonatrach’s largest
gas field, Hassi R’Mel, has been releasing large amountsof methane for almost 40 years. Methane is a key driverof climate change and has 84 times the warming powerof CO2 in the first 20 years after it is released. All in all,the Hassi R’Mel gas field released an estimated 939,000
tons of methane in 2021, an amount equal to the annual
CO2 emissions of 17 million American cars. Significant
methane leaks were also detected at two facilities on
Sonatrach’s largest oil field, Hassi Messaoud.42 Although
Algeria is a methane hotspot, it refused to join the 105
countries which signed a pledge at the UN Climate
Summit in Glasgow to reduce methane emissions by 30%
by 2030.
In 2022, Sonatrach signed a flurry of deals to extract newoil and gas resources in Algeria with foreign partners.
On February 4th 2022, Sonatrach announced that it
intends to develop the El Assel gas field in cooperation
with Gazprom.43 Later in the same month, it signed amemorandum of understanding to develop new gas
projects with the German company Wintershall Dea.44
In May 2022, Sonatrach and Eni agreed to accelerate
the development of new gas fields to increase Algeria’s
exports to Italy.45 And in July 2022, Sonatrach struck a deal
with TotalEnergies, Occidental and Eni to jointly invest
US$ 4 billion in gas development in Algeria’s Berkine
Basin.46 Sonatrach is bent on dragging itself and Algeria
ever further into the fossil fuel trap.

Sonatrach‘s oil refinery in Skikda, Algeria. © hamdi bendali / Shutterstock

19

Eni’s Oil and Gas Expansion Plans in Africa

MOROCCOShort-Term Expansion(Unit: million boe)

WESTERN
SAHARA

MAURITANIAMALISENEGAL0 – 100

101 – 250

251 – 500

>500

Midstream

THE GAMBIABURKINAFASO

GUINEA-BISSAUGUINEALNG Terminals

SIERRALEONELIBERIAGas Fired Power

Capital Expenditure(Unit: million USD)COTE
D’IVOIRE

NIGERIACAMEROON

No expenditure0 – 5051 – 100
101 – 200
201 – 300
>300

Eni
Eni is Africa’s second largest oil and gas producer andsourced 59% of its hydrocarbon production from Africa in
2021. The Italian major is also the third largest developerof new upstream oil and gas resources on the continent.
Eni plans to add 1.32 billion barrels of oil equivalent to
its production portfolio in Africa in the coming years. The
carbon emissions from burning these new resources will
be over twice as high as Italy’s annual greenhouse gas
emissions.
20

Today, Eni’s operations span 14 African countries andit is – after Sonatrach – the company with the highest
exploration capex in Africa. During the past 3 years, Eni
spent almost US$ 1.1 billion on exploration for new oil
and gas resources in Africa. The company has madesignificant capital gains by selling stakes in its major oil
and gas discoveries to other corporations.

GHANAZAMBIAWho is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

TUNISIA

ALGERIAZIMBABWENAMIBIA
LIBYA

EGYPT

BOTSWANANIGERERITREA

SUDAN
CHAD

SWAZILANDDJIBOUTI

BENIN
TOGO

ETHIOPIANIGERIA
SOUTH SUDANCENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLICACAMEROONSOMALIA

REPUBLIC
OF THECONGO
GABON

UGANDA

SOUTH AFRICA
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO

LESOTHOKENYA

RWANDA

BURUNDITANZANIATANZANIAMOZAMBIQUE

REPUBLIC OF
THE CONGO

ANGOLA

MALAWIMOZAMBIQUEZAMBIAMADAGASCARZIMBABWENAMIBIABOTSWANAESWATINILESOTHO
SOUTH AFRICA

NAM

Data Sources: Global Oil and Gas Exit List, Urgewald
Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker, Global Energy Monitor [January 2022]
Rystad Energy UCube, 14.09.2022

21

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Since the mid-1950s, Eni has played a key role ininitiating and expanding oil and gas extraction in several
African countries. An example is Mozambique, where
Eni’s discovery of huge offshore reserves in 2011 createda gas rush with disastrous consequences for the country(see case study on page 24). Another country where Eni
has a very influential presence is Angola. Eni made several
significant discoveries here since 2018 and has recently
formed a new company – Azule Energy – together with
BP. With a production of 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent
per day and 2 billion barrels of reserves, Azule Energy will
be Angola’s largest independent oil and gas producer.
The company also plans to develop Angola’s first nonassociated gas project, which is expected to produce up
to 4 billion cubic meters per year, starting in 2026.47
But Egypt is by far the most strategic country for Eni. It
accounts for about half of the company’s total gas reserves
and more than a third of its profits. After the discovery of
the giant Zohr gas field in 2015, Eni’s business in Egypt
boomed and continued to thrive, undisturbed even by themurder of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni by Egyptian
intelligence agents in 2016.48 Six years after Regeni’s
murder, justice is still being denied by President al-Sisi,
who refuses to collaborate with Italian authorities. Eni,

however, decided to look the other way and rejected callsfrom civil society to end its business with Egypt’s brutal
regime.49 In 2022, Eni and the Egyptian government
announced their cooperation on a carbon capture andstorage project, an obvious attempt by both sides togreenwash their image in the run up to COP27.50 Onlya month before announcing the project, Eni and Egypt
signed an agreement to expand gas production in the
country.51
Eni has announced its ambition is to become “a net zero
emissions energy business” by 2050, but the pathway to
net zero matters much more than the final destination.
“The decisive decade for action is now,” says Antonio
Tricarico from the Italian NGO Re:Common. “But Eni plans
to continue growing its upstream hydrocarbon production
until 2025 and then staying at this plateau until 2030.
Its fossil investments and strategy are absolutely
incompatible with efforts to stay below 1.5°C.” According
to Tricarico, Eni will still be producing 15 times more fossil
fuels than renewables in 2030.

Gas flaring poses a huge health hazard for communities in the Niger Delta. © George Osodi

22

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

II.3. Who Are the Top Companies Behind Midstream Oil and Gas Expansion in Africa?
Fossil fuel infrastructure such as pipelines and liquefied
natural gas (LNG) terminals are expensive to build, andtheir intended operational lifetime spans decades.
TotalEnergies’ and CNOOC’s East African Crude Oil
Pipeline, for example, will cost over US$ 5 billion and is
expected to operate for at least 20 years.52 ExxonMobil’sand Eni’s Rovuma LNG project in Mozambique andEquinor’s Tanzania LNG project are each estimated tocost US$ 30 billion.53 The expected operational lifetimeof both LNG plants is more than 30 years.54 New massive
oil and gas infrastructure projects pose a major threat
to the Paris goals. They lock in fossil emissions overdecades and lock out host countries’ opportunity to builda renewable future. According to the International Energy
Agency, “achieving full access to modern energy in Africa
by 2030 would require investments of US$ 25 billion peryear,” a sum that is comparable to the cost of just one
large LNG project.55

Doubling Africa’s LNG Terminal Capacity
In addition to methane leakages which occur throughout
the gas supply chain, the production of LNG is particularly
energy intensive. To produce LNG, fossil gas is first cooled
to -162°C to liquefy it, then piped into LNG tankers andshipped to distant ports, where it must be re-gasified
before it can be burned in a power plant. Almost half ofthe total greenhouse gas emissions from LNG thus occur
before any electricity is generated.56 “LNG is not a climate
solution, it’s a big climate problem,” says Nils Bartsch,head of oil and gas research at Urgewald.
In Africa, oil and gas companies are developing new LNG
terminals with a combined capacity of over 87 million tons
per annum (Mtpa). These projects will increase Africa’s

existing LNG terminal capacity by 116%.57 Over 89% of
the new LNG infrastructure is being built for export, mainly
to Europe and Asia. “From Mauritania to Mozambique,
Europe’s fossil fuel addiction is a major driver behind new
LNG projects,” says Amos Wemanya, a senior analyst atPower Shift Africa. “These multibillion-dollar projects will
drive African countries into debt and obstruct the shift torenewable energies. They are bad for our climate and badfor Africa’s development.”
The five biggest projects account for 67% of the new LNG
terminal capacity planned in Africa. All five projects are
led by foreign companies.

Five Biggest Planned LNG Terminals in Africa
Project

Country

LNG capacity(mtpa)

Lead Operators and Headquarters

Rovuma LNG

Mozambique

15.2

ExxonMobil (US) and Eni (Italy)

Mozambique LNG

Mozambique

13.1

TotalEnergies (France)

Greater Tortue Ahmeyim
LNG

Mauritania/Senegal

10

BP (UK)

Tanzania LNG

Tanzania

10

Equinor (Norway) and Shell (UK)

Djibouti LNG

Djibouti

10

POLY-GCL Petroleum Group (China)23

Case Study

Unleashing Carbon Bombs
and Chaos in Mozambique

Tanker at LNG terminal. © MsLightBox / Getty Images“Ever since gas was found here, the region has struggled tofind peace. The environment has been destroyed and law and order
have collapsed. Nowhere in Africa have oil and gas been good forthe people. I wish the gas had never been found.”– Issa Tarmamade, mayor of the Ibo Island district in Cabo Delgado.58

A decade ago, Cabo Delgado innorthern Mozambique was a peaceful, lush
and green coastal province. The region had arural population of farmers and fishers, and adeveloping tourism industry. People were poor,
but communities had their land, free accessto water, sea and forests, and sustainable
livelihoods. This all changed when massive
offshore gas fields were discovered off thecoast and multinational oil and gas companies descended upon the province. Ten years
later, the industry has left thousands of people
displaced and without livelihoods, ruined theenvironment and fueled an ongoing violent
conflict that has led to thousands of deaths
and turned 800,000 people into refugees.59
From 2011 onwards, multinational oil
and gas companies began developing threelarge liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in
Cabo Delgado: The Mozambique LNG project
led by TotalEnergies, the Rovuma LNG project
led by ExxonMobil and the Coral South Floating
LNG project led by Eni.
24

The gas reserves off the coast of Cabo
Delgado are one of the world’s largest carbon
bombs. If extracted and burnt, they will generate
more than 4.6 billion tons (gigatons) of CO2 –an amount 13 times as big as the annual greenhouse gas emissions of France. Export credit
agencies from France, the US, Italy, Japan,
China, South Korea, South Africa, Thailand,
the UK and the Netherlands provided financing and insurance to the companies planning
to ignite this carbon bomb. To date, the totalinternational support for all renewable projects
in Mozambique is US$ 230 million – one-sixtieth of the amount of public finance that went to
the Mozambique LNG project alone.60
As the main operators of the gas
projects in Cabo Delgado, TotalEnergies, Eni
and ExxonMobil promised local communities
that they would benefit from these projects.
Instead, the companies bulldozed communities’ villages to make space for gas processing facilities and forced 557 families to leave
their land and belongings behind. Many

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

families received only a tenth of the land thatthey owned before or are still waiting for theirpromised compensation. The impacts of the
projects on fishing communities along thecoast were also completely ignored, although
the dredging, drilling and extensive subsea
infrastructure works have serious impacts on
marine biodiversity.
1. Mozambique LNG: Via a 45 km-long subsea pipeline,
gas will be transported to the onshore Afungi LNG
park, where it will be liquefied and stored in tanks forexport to other countries. The US$ 20 billion project isowned by TotalEnergies (26.5%), Japan’s Mitsui (10%),
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (10%),
Mozambique’s national oil company ENH (15%), theThai company PTTEP (8.5%) and the Indian companies
ONGC (16%), Bharat Petroleum (10%) and Oil India(4%).
2. Rovuma LNG: Rovuma is the biggest of the threeprojects, but the final investment decision has still
not been made. Gas will be transported from theoffshore fields via pipelines to the planned Rovuma
LNG terminal, which will also be sited at the Afungi LNG
park. The owners of the US$ 30 billion Rovuma project
are ExxonMobil (25%), Eni (25%), China National
Petroleum Corporation (20%), Korea Gas Corporation(10%), the Portuguese company GALP (10%) and ENH(10%) from Mozambique.
3. Coral South Floating LNG: Gas is liquefied on-sitewith a floating LNG terminal, constructed in South
Korea. The Floating LNG plant has just become
operational, and first exports to Europe are expected
in November 2022.61 The project is led by Eni (25%)
in partnership with ExxonMobil (25%), China National
Petroleum Corporation (20%), Korea Gas Corporation(10%), GALP (10%) and ENH (10%).

The oil and gas companies as wellas the export credit agencies knew fromthe start that gas extraction in the area wasassociated with high security risks. Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in
the world and Cabo Delgado is one of thepoorest areas of Mozambique. The arrivalof rich international companies, hordes offoreign workers and military forces to guard
the oil companies’ operations created theperfect breeding ground for an insurgency.
In 2017, insurgents began taking control
of territory in Cabo Delgado and waging
horrific attacks on civilians: burning down
villages, murdering people and raping andenslaving women. Since 2017, over 3,000
people were killed and over 800,000 havefled their homes.62
While TotalEnergies declared force
majeure on the Mozambique LNG project
after an attack of insurgent militias on the
nearby town of Palma in 2021, the company
aims to restart the project this year.63
ExxonMobil and Eni have not yet taken a
final investment decision on the Rovuma
LNG project, but the Coral South Floating
LNG has already taken up operations.
Meanwhile Cabo Delgado has become amilitarized zone, where critical journalists
are “disappeared” and villagers live in fearof violence by the insurgents or the militaryforces deployed to fight the insurgency.
“The projects in Cabo Delgado
showcase how the gas industry destabilizes
poor countries and fuels the climate crisis.
These projects must be dismantled before
they dismantle our future,” says Anabela
Lemos, Director of Justiça Ambiental/
Friends of the Earth Mozambique.

25

Planned LNG Terminal and Pipelines

TUNISIA
MOROCCOALGERIA
LIBYA

EGYPT

WESTERN
SAHARA

MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGER
ERITREASUDAN

SENEGALCHAD

THE GAMBIABURKINA FASOGUINEA-BISSAUGUINEASIERRALEONELIBERIADJIBOUTI

BENIN

COTE
D’IVOIRE

TOGO

NIGERIAGHANAETHIOPIA

SOUTH SUDANCENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLICCAMEROONSOMALIAGABON

UGANDAREPUBLIC
OF THECONGO

DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO

KENYA

RWANDA
BURUNDI

Midstream

TANZANIALNG Terminal Capacity in
Million Tons per Year

MOZAMBIQUEANGOLA

MALAWIZAMBIA0 – 2.5
MADAGASCAR

2.6 – 5.0

ZIMBABWENAMIBIA

5.1 – 7.5

BOTSWANA

7.6 – 10.0
ESWATINI

10.1 – 12.5
LESOTHO

Pipelines

SOUTH AFRICA

Data Sources: Global Oil and Gas Exit List,
Urgewald; Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker,
Global Energy Monitor [January 2022]

New Gas and Oil Pipelines Planned in Africa
Europe’s attempt to replace Russian gas with gas fromother countries has given pipeline projects in Africa a new
boost. An example is the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, aproject that was first mooted 40 years ago and is now
being revived. In July 2022, the energy ministers of
Nigeria, Niger and Algeria signed a memorandum of
understanding to undertake a new feasibility study for the
pipeline. If built, it would stretch 4,400 km from Warri insouthern Nigeria to Hassi R’Mel in Algeria, where it would
TUNISIA
connect to existing pipelines supplying Europe.64
MOROCCOAltogether, 20,541 km of new oil and gas pipelines areplanned in Africa. If laid end-to-end, these pipelines
would be long enough to cover the distance between
the North Pole and the South Pole. 68% of the pipelinekilometers planned or under construction in Africa are fortransporting gas, while 32% are for oil. More than halfof the 20,541 pipeline kilometers are being explicitly
built to transport oil or gas to Europe, either directly or
by transporting fuel to the seaside from where it can be
shipped to Europe. The chart on the next page shows
the five longest pipeline projects planned in Africa as
well as the companies investing in them.

ALGERIA

26
WESTERN
SAHARA

LIBYA

EGYPT

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Longest Oil and Gas Pipelines Planned in Africa
Pipeline name

Length inkm

FuelCompanies investing in the pipeline

Nigeria-Morocco Gas
Pipeline

5,660

Gas

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Office Nationaldes Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM)

Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline

4,128

Gas

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Sonatrach,
Government of Niger

African Renaissance Gas
Pipeline

2,600

Gas

Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), China National
Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)

Niger-Benin Oil Pipeline

1,950

Oil

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)

East African Crude Oil
Pipeline (EACOP)

1,443

Oil

TotalEnergies, Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), Tanzania
Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), CNOOC

Out of these five major pipelines, only the African
Renaissance Pipeline, which is planned between
Mozambique and South Africa, is aimed at trade between
African countries. All the other pipelines are designed
to export African gas or oil to Europe or to China, either
directly or via a port in the case of the East African Crude
Oil Pipeline and the Niger-Benin pipeline.

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
to build the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline.65 The 5,600
km pipeline would run across 13 African countries andprovide gas from Nigeria to West African countries all theway to Morocco and subsequently to Europe. It would be
the longest offshore pipeline in the world and would bebuilt in stages over the next 25 years. African NGOs haverepeatedly criticized the project, saying that it threatens
the livelihoods of millions of people, who depend on
fisheries along the West African coast, and will lock infossil fuel development to the detriment of our climate.66
They also fear that the pipeline will cost much more thanthe projected US$ 25 billion and will sink West Africancountries into debt.
There are two international companies, who are, however,important drivers of new pipeline projects in Africa: theChina National Petroleum Company (CNPC) and France’s
TotalEnergies.

Pipeline construction in the Sahara desert.
© Richard J Greenman / Alamy Stock Photo

While international companies play a dominant role in
African LNG projects, the continent’s largest pipeline
developers are companies headquartered in Africa.
The company with the most ambitious plans in thepipeline sector is the Nigerian National Petroleum
Company (NNPC). In September 2022, NNPC signed amemorandum of understanding with Morocco’s National
Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) and theCNPC subsidiaries are constructing a 1,950 km longpipeline connecting the Agadem oilfields in Niger’s Diffa
region to the port of Cotonou in Benin. CNPC is also
involved in the proposed 2,600 km “African Renaissance
Pipeline” which would supply Mozambican gas to South
Africa – a project which South African energy company
Sasol distanced itself from in April 2022. According toBloomberg, Sasol said it does not want to be stuck withthis infrastructure project as the world shifts away fromfossil fuels.67 TotalEnergies holds a majority stake of
62% in the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline(EACOP).

27

Case Study

TotalEnergies’ EACOP:The Pipeline No One
Should Fund
Spreading inland from the northern shore of Lake Albert, Murchison
Falls National Park is one of the world’s most scenic places. It is not only
Uganda’s oldest and largest, but also its most popular conservation area.68
The Victoria Nile flows through the park and elephants, white hippos, Nilecrocodiles, buffalos and marabou storks can regularly be seen on its banks.
All in all, this natural refuge harbors 556 bird species and 188 mammal
species.69
But the future of the park and the wider
region are under threat since oil fields werediscovered in the area around Lake Albert. The
Tilenga oil field at the northern tip of Lake Albert
and the Kingfisher oil field at the southern endof the lake are estimated to hold over 1 billion
barrels of oil.70 And TotalEnergies and China’s
National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) aredetermined to extract these resources.
For the Tilenga field, this means
drilling over 400 oil wells, out of which atleast 132 will be located within the Murchison
Falls National Park. Roads will also be built
inside the park to enable around 2,000 daily
truck trips between wells during the exploitation phase. A water extraction system will be
installed on the shores of Lake Albert to takewater from the lake and re-inject it into the oil
reservoir to maintain pressure.71 Around 180
km of feeder pipelines will be installed to pipe
the oil to a central processing facility and thento the neighboring district of Hoima, where theEast African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) would
begin. To enable the crude oil to flow, it mustbe heated to a temperature of 50°C. If built,
EACOP would be the longest electrically heatedpipeline in the world.
The 1,443 km long pipeline route runs
all the way through Uganda and Tanzania to
the Indian Ocean Port of Tanga. From there, theoil would be shipped out into the world. On its
way, EACOP would crisscross through forests,
savannas, swamps and countless nature
reserves. A 30-meter-wide pipeline corridor
would cut through the habitats of chimpanzees, lions, zebras, elephants, and migratory
birds. Once the pipeline reaches the Tanzanian coast, oil tankers would steer throughmangrove swamps and coral reefs to export theoil.7228

The pipeline will also run through 178
villages in Uganda and 231 villages in Tanzania.
All in all, TotalEnergies’ and CNOOC’s projectwill force more than 100,000 people off theirlands.73 For the Tilenga oil site alone, over
31,000 people will be forcibly displaced.74
People are living in a state of limbo as they weretold to already stop using their land, but have
yet to receive compensation. Without farmlandor compensation, people can no longer growthe crops that once brought them an income.
Families are struggling to pay for medicine andtheir children’s school fees.75 Others no longer
know how to afford the next meal.76
Affected people who don’t makespace voluntarily are intimidated and threatened by the oil giants’ subcontractors.77
Ugandan human rights defenders and environmental activists who dare to stand up
against CNOOC and TotalEnergies are facing
intimidation, arrests and judicial harassment
from Ugandan authorities.78 In an emergency
resolution passed in September 2022, theEuropean Parliament calls “for an end to theextractive activities in protected and sensitive ecosystems, including the shores of Lake
Albert”, and voiced “serious concern about
the human rights violations in Uganda andTanzania linked to investments in fossil fuelprojects.”79
Up until today, 24 banks and 18 insurance companies have declined support for
EACOP.80 One of them is the German insurance
giant Allianz, which said: “Allianz is not providing direct insurance to the East African Crude
Oil Pipeline project, as it neither meets our
climate ambition nor falls within our ESG risk
profile.”81 At peak production, EACOP would
enable the extraction and transport of enoughoil to generate 34 million tons of CO2 emissions
per year, significantly more than the combined
emissions of Uganda and Tanzania.82

An endangered Nubia giraffe grazing in the Murchison
Falls National Park. © Juliette Renaud, Amis de la Terre

Text

14 Okavango and 5 Protest People are protesting against ReconAfrica all around the world. © Alexa Sedge and 350 Africa

Gas-fired Power Expansion 2022

TUNISIA
MOROCCOALGERIA
LIBYA

EGYPT

WESTERN
SAHARA

MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGER
ERITREASUDAN

SENEGALCHAD

THE GAMBIABURKINA FASOGUINEA-BISSAUGUINEASIERRALEONELIBERIADJIBOUTI
BENIN

COTE
D’IVOIRE

TOGO

NIGERIAGHANAETHIOPIA

SOUTH SUDANCENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLICCAMEROONSOMALIAGABON

UGANDAREPUBLIC
OF THE
CONGO

KENYA

DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO

RWANDA
BURUNDITANZANIA

Gas-fired power
expansion (Unit: MW)
ANGOLA

MALAWIZAMBIA0 – 1000MOZAMBIQUE

MADAGASCARZIMBABWE

1001 – 2000
NAMIBIA

2001 – 3000

BOTSWANAESWATINILESOTHO
SOUTH AFRICA

Data Sources: Global Oil and Gas Exit List,
Urgewald; Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker,
Global Energy Monitor [January 2022]

II.5. Who is Building New Gas-Fired Power Plants in Africa?
The expected operational lifetime of a gas-fired power
plant is 25 – 30 years. The construction of new gasfired power plants therefore locks in decades of CO2 andmethane emissions. “Building such plants at a time wheneven the International Energy Agency says that electricity
systems must become emissions-free by 2040 makes nosense,” says Amos Wemanya, senior analyst at Power Shift
Africa. “Africa can leapfrog the development pathways
that the North underwent and build smarter, distributed
energy systems powered by renewables.”Currently, new gas-fired power plants are planned orunder development in 21 African countries. Some of30

these countries, such as Algeria, Nigeria or Libya arealready highly dependent on fossil gas for their electricity
generation. Most, however, such as Cameroon, Republicof Congo, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra
Leone, Tanzania or Zimbabwe have little or no gas-fired
power capacity up to now. “Power from new gas plants
won’t reach Africa’s poor. Instead, these investments
will delay and obstruct the renewable options that could
give full energy access to rural populations,” says Dipti
Bhatnagar from Justiça Ambiental/Friends of the Earth
Mozambique.

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Altogether, over 40,000 MW of new gas-fired power
capacity is planned or under development in Africa.

The bulk of this new planned capacity is, however,concentrated in a handful of countries.

Countries with the Biggest Gas-Fired Power Expansion Plans
Country

Planned capacity(MW)

Companies building over 1,000 MW (prorated capacity)

South Africa

13,132

Coega Development Corporation, Eskom Holdings, Nseleni Power
Corporation, Karadeniz Holding

Nigeria

12,568Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Century Power
Generation, Kingline Power, Caleb Energy, Inland Energy

Libya

3,619

General Electricity Company of Libya

Mozambique

3,024

Central Termica de Beluluane

Algeria

2,650

Sonelgaz

Morocco2,400

Office National De L‘electricite Et De L‘eau Potable (ONEE)

Even among these six countries, two stand out:
Nigeria and South Africa, the economic heavyweightsof the continent. In March 2021, Nigeria’s president
Muhammadu Buhari announced “A Decade of Gas”, aplan under which Nigeria would power its entire economy
with gas by the year 2030.83 Accordingly, the pipeline of
new gas-fired power plants is huge and would more thandouble Nigeria’s current gas-fired power capacity. On
closer examination, it is evident that most of the new gas
plants are being built to power industrial projects, but not
to provide energy to the 45% of Nigeria’s citizens that stilllack access to electricity.
South Africa, on the other hand, has the world’s fifthlargest coal plant fleet, but almost no gas-fired power
capacity. Many of South Africa’s coal power stations
are near the end of their lifetime and should be rapidly
decommissioned, especially as the government has
committed itself to cut emissions to net zero by 2050.
But the country’s Mineral Resources Minister, Gwede
Mantashe, wants to replace one fossil fuel with another.
In a speech before South Africa’s National Assembly in
May 2022, he proclaimed that “gas is going to be a gamechanger” for South Africa.84 All in all, over 13,100 MWof new gas power projects are planned in South Africa,
an amount equal to around one-third of the country’s
coal-fired capacity. New gas plants are, however, being
challenged in the courts and in the streets by South“Investments in gas power projects are costly and detrimental toSouth Africa’s economy, people
and environment.”
African civil society organizations. As Avena Jacklin fromthe South African NGO groundWork says: “Investments
in gas power projects are costly and detrimental toSouth Africa’s economy, people and environment. Gas
development will displace renewable alternatives,
expose us to volatile gas prices and increase pollution
and climate vulnerability. The burning of fossil gas has noplace in our energy future.”31

GUINEA-B

Chapter II

32

Coal Expansion
in Africa

ERITREASUDAN

SENEGALCHAD

THE GAMBIABURKINA FASOBISSAUGUINEADJIBOUTI in Africa?
Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion
BENIN

SIERRALEONECOTE
D’IVOIRE

NIGERIA

TOGO
GHANA

ETHIOPIA

SOUTH SUDAN

Coal Power, Mining and Infrastructure Expansion 2022

LIBERIACENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLICCAMEROONGABONSOMALIA

REPUBLIC
OF THECONGO

UGANDA
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO

KENYA
RWANDA
BURUNDITANZANIAANGOLA

MALAWIMOZAMBIQUEZAMBIA

Coal Mining Expansion(number of projects
per country)

MADAGASCARZIMBABWENAMIBIA

1

BOTSWANA2 – 1040 – 50
ESWATINI

Coal powered plant
capacity (Unit: MW)LESOTHO
SOUTH AFRICA

0 – 500

501 – 1000

1001 – 3000

Railway
Coal Terminal
Data Source: Urgewald

Coal is the most carbon-intensive of all fossil fuels.
In 2021, coal power plants generated 36% of theworld’s electricity, but were responsible for almost
72% of the electricity sector’s CO2 emissions.85 Ourability to limit global warming therefore criticallydepends on the speed in which we phase coal outof our energy systems. According to the IPCC’s latest
Assessment Report, global coal power generationneeds to fall by at least 76% by 2030 to keep the
1.5°C goal within reach.86 In Africa, the coal industry
is, however, still expanding.

According to Urgewald’s Global Coal Exit List, newcoal power plants, coal mines or coal transport
infrastructure are planned or under development in
11 African countries. The lion’s share of these projects
is planned in Southern and East Africa. The largest
coal-fired power capacity additions are planned in
Zimbabwe, while South Africa has the most coalmines under development, and Mozambique and
Botswana have the biggest plans for expanding coaltransport infrastructure.

33

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

II.1 Coal Power Expansion
Over the past four years, Africa’s coal plant pipeline has
shrunk significantly. In 2018, over 55,000 MW of new
coal-fired capacity were still planned on the continent. But
only 7,200 MW were completed, mostly in South Africa,
where the country’s state-owned utility, Eskom, built
several units of its gigantic Medupi and Kusile coal power
stations. Many other projects such as the Lamu coal plantin Kenya or the Khanyisa coal plant in South Africa werecanceled due to massive protests by civil society and legal
challenges in the courts. And at COP 26, several Africancountries signed on to the “Global Coal to Clean Power
Transition Statement,” committing themselves to “cease
the issuance of permits for new unabated coal-fired power
generation projects.” Among the signatories were Coted’Ivoire, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, Somalia
and Zambia.

10,135 MW of new coal-fired capacity are, however, stillin the pipeline in Africa. Over half of this new coal power
capacity – 5,380 MW – is planned in Zimbabwe. While
47% of Zimbabwe’s population does not have access toelectricity,87 most of the new coal plants would be built topower mining operations in different parts of the country.
The largest project is the 2,800 MW Sengwa coal power
station planned by the Zimbabwean mining company
RioZim. But Sengwa has run into trouble as its largest
financier, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China,
recently stepped back due to the project’s environmental
risks.88 According to RioZim’s chairman, the company iscurrently trying to attract new investors for the coal power
station.89 Civil society organizations are calling for the
US$ 3 billion project to be dropped as it would deplete
the region’s scarce water resources and destroy the
livelihoods of its farming communities.90

Protest against coal power and coal mining in Kenya. © Paul Basweti / Greenpeace34

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Eskom‘s Tutuka power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa. @Rudi Venter / Alamy Stock PhotoCountries with over 1,000 MW Coal Power Expansion
Country

Planned Coal-Fired
Capacity in MW

Companies

Zimbabwe

5,380

RioZim, Zambesi Gas Zimbabwe, Zesa Holdings, Karo Resources,
Beifa Investments, Zimbabwe Zhongxin Electric Energy

South Africa

1,735

Eskom, Transalloys

Mozambique

1,050

Eurasian Resources Group Sarl, Jindal Steel, Ncondezi

South Africa’s biggest coal power developer is Eskom,which is building two new coal units totaling 1,600 MW
for its Kusile power station. Kusile was designed as a
4,800 MW project consisting of six 800 MW coal units.
Construction of the Kusile power station began in 2007
and was supposed to finish in 2014, but up until today
only units 1 – 4 have been completed.
As a leading South African news service describes it, theproject “has been mired in controversy, including delays,
massive cost overruns, design defects and allegations ofcorruption.”91 Meanwhile, the costs for the Kusile project
have more than doubled. Kusile and its sister project
Medupi were supposed to alleviate the power shortages
associated with Eskom’s aging coal plant fleet, where
many plants are subject to frequent break-downs. In aspeech to Parliament in September 2022, South Africa’s
President Cyril Ramaphosa, however, confirmed that thedesign defects of Kusile and Medupi “actually contributed
to a large extent to the load-shedding that we are
currently having.”92 From January through October 2022,
South Africa’s citizens experienced power outages on

143 days,93 and in June, the coldest month in the country,
people suffered blackouts for up to 8 hours a day.94 In May
2022, South Africa’s vice-president David Mabuza said
that while Eskom has made progress in identifying thedesign defects in its Kusile and Medupi plants, it will take
until the end of 2027 to rectify these defects.95
Units 5 and 6 of the Kusile power station are expected
to come online in 2024. “The big question, however,
is: When will the Kusile and Medupi power stations be
decommissioned?” asks Bobby Peek from South Africa’s
Life after Coal Campaign. “These projects were built to
operate until 2073, and are absolutely incompatible with
South Africa’s goal of becoming a net-zero economy by2050. Kusile and Medupi will each burn as much as 15
million tons of coal a year. That’s a health and climate
burden South Africans can’t afford.”
Next to South Africa and Zimbabwe, new coal power plants
are also planned or under development in Mozambique,
Botswana, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger andTanzania.
35

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Ancient Babobab trees are threatened by coal mine expansion in Limpopo province, South Africa. © Goddard_Photography / Getty Images

II.2 Coal Mining Expansion
From start to end, coal mining is an ugly business.
Massive excavations strip the land of forests and othervegetation, displace its inhabitants, generate mountainsof waste and blanket surrounding communities with dust
particles and debris. Underground mining leaves empty
spaces behind, which can collapse and cause the land
above to sink, resulting in structural damage to buildings,
roads and other infrastructure. Groundwater is pumped
to dry out the areas to be mined, thus lowering the watertable in surrounding areas and damaging ecosystems
and agricultural production. Coal mining scars local
communities and their environment in multiple ways.
The impact of coal mining far outlives its operational
lifespan, with abandoned coal mines continuing tothreaten people and the environment, long after coalmine owners have left with their profits. When companies
fail to rehabilitate the mining area, they literally leave
scorched earth behind: Smoldering mine pits pollute the
air and can ignite fires. And when water enters the mining
pits, it becomes acidic and heavily contaminated withcarcinogenic substances. Acid drainage from these mines
is a ticking time bomb as it can poison the soil, rivers,
lakes and drinking water resources of much larger areas.
In Mpumalanga, South Africa’s main coal mining region,
there are over 400 abandoned coal mines today.96
Currently, 70 new coal mines or coal mine extension
projects are planned in 9 African countries. These are
Botswana, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger,
South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Countries with the Largest Number of New Coal Mining Projects
Country

Number of projects

Involved Companies

South Africa

49

Africa Coal Partners, Exxaro Resources, Glencore, Ikwezi Mining, Ilima Coal,
Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, MC Mining, Menar Holding,
Namane Resources, Ndalama Resources, Petmin, Phembani Group/Izimbiwa
Coal, Puckree Group, Sasol, Scinta South Africa, Seriti resources, Thungela
Resources, Wescoal Holdings

Zimbabwe6

Beifa Investments, Hwange Colliery, Karo Resources, RioZim, Western Coal andEnergyBotswana

5

African Energy, Kibo Energy, Maatla Energy, Morupule Coal Mine,
Shumba Energy, Jindal Steel

Mozambique

4

International Coal Ventures, Jindal Steel, Minas de Revuboe, Ncondezi Energy

South Africa is the continent’s largest coal miner and
it is therefore not surprising that 70% of the new coal
36

mining or mine extension projects in Africa are planned
here. In 2021, South Africa produced 230 million tons ofWho is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

coal, out of which 70% were consumed domestically.97
Most of South Africa’s domestic coal was consumed
by the country’s enormous coal plant fleet, which has acapacity of 44 GW and provides over 80% of the nation’s
electricity. 30% of South Africa’s coal production was,however, exported, mainly to India, Pakistan and China.
Together, these three countries received 53 million tonsof coal in 2021.98 In 2021, Europe only imported around 4
million tons of South African coal. In the first 5 months of2022, European countries, however, imported 40% morecoal from South Africa than over the whole of 2021.99

pollution and health impacts associated with coalmining. Community groups organize rallies, hearings,
meetings with companies and officials, and appeal in
the courts. But challenging the coal industry can comeat a steep price. In 2020, community activists in South
Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal Province took legal action against
the expansion of the Somkhele open cast coal mine, run
by Tendele, a subsidiary of Petmin Ltd. In October 2020,
just weeks before a scheduled hearing before South
Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal, community leader
Fikile Ntshangase – a 65 year old grandmother – wasgunned down in her home.100 South African authorities,
however, turned a blind eye on the murder and two„The threats and violence against
communities, who are fighting
powerful mining interests, are adirect attack on our democracy.“

Civil society organizations demand justice for the brutal
murder of Fikile Ntshangase in South Africa. © groundWork

Communities in South Africa are no longer willingto accept the massive land and water grabs and theyears later, the killers still have not been arrested.101“The South African government must urgently take steps
to protect and respect the rights of community defenders.
The threats and violence against communities, who arefighting powerful mining interests, are a direct attack on
our democracy,” says Bobby Peek from the Life After Coal
Campaign.

II.3. Expansion of Coal Transport Infrastructure
Most of the new coal mining projects planned in Southern
Africa are designed to service the export market and not
to meet local demand. Supplying coal for export, however,requires expensive transport infrastructure, which inturn locks in future coal production. Currently four coalterminals and five railway lines are planned in Southern
Africa.

The 1,500 km long railway would connect Botswana’s
Mmamabula coal fields with Walvis Bay on the coast of
Namibia, where the Namibian Ports Authority aims tobuild a coal export terminal. To ramp up export to South
Africa, Botswana Railways and South Africa’s Transnet areeach planning cross-border connections from Botswana’s
coal mines to existing railway lines in Limpopo province.

Mozambique is a key hotspot for new coal transport
infrastructure projects in Africa. The company Essar Ports& Terminals is developing a 20 million tons per annum
coal terminal in the port city of Beira, while the ItalianThai Development Public Company and the Mozambicancompany CFM are building a 600 km railway and a deepsea port at Macuse for the export of up to 100 million tonsof coal annually.

Meanwhile, the South African company Grindrod plans to
expand its Navitrade coal terminal in Richards Bay, South
Africa’s main coal export hub. “These coal infrastructure
projects do not serve Africans. They are expensive
stranded assets in waiting with immense environmental
and social impacts. Building large, long-term coalinfrastructure in the midst of a climate emergency ismadness,” says Leanne Govindsamy from South Africa’s
Life After Coal Campaign.

Botswana is the second coal infrastructure hotspot. The
most daring project is the Trans-Kalahari railway line
planned by Botswana Railways and TransNamib Holdings.
37

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Chapter III

38

Who isFinancing Fossil
Fuel Expansion
in Africa?

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

350 Africa protests against fossil fuel finance. © Afrika Vuka

Each year, new UN reports remind us that thewindow for effective action on climate change is
rapidly closing. As Ploy Achakulwisut, a lead authorof UNEP’s 2021 Production Gap Report says: “Theresearch is clear: global coal, oil and gas production
must start declining immediately and steeply to
be consistent with limiting long-term warming to
1.5°C.”102
But the fossil fuel industry is not swayed by science,nor by the deadly floods, storms and heat waves that
1.2°C of global warming have already unleashed. In
49 African nations, oil, gas and coal companies are
exploring or developing new fossil reserves, building
new fossil transport infrastructure or developing newgas- and coal-fired power plants. For this report, we
identified 200 companies, which are at the forefrontof fossil fuel expansion in Africa in 2022. Behindeach of these companies are banks, investors andinsurers, who provide the financial underpinnings
for these fossil expansion plans. In this chapter, we
identify the top commercial banks and institutional
investors behind fossil fuel expansion in Africa.
As our research also includes multinational
companies such as TotalEnergies or Shell, which are
involved in oil and gas expansion all over the globe,
we used adjustors that reflect which proportionof a company’s fossil expansion is planned in
Africa. The “Africa adjustor” for TotalEnergies is,for example, 33%. If a bank made a corporate loan
to TotalEnergies, our financial research thus only
attributes 33% of the loan’s volume as lending
for fossil fuel expansion in Africa. The same
approach was used for bond- and shareholdings in
multinational companies. This methodology allows
us to estimate the total magnitude of financial flows
supporting new fossil projects in Africa.
39

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

III.1. Top Institutional Investors Backing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa
In July 2022, over 5,000 institutional investors held
shares and bonds totaling US$ 109 billion in companies
developing new fossil fuel projects in Africa. Among theinvestors covered by our research are pension funds,

mutual funds, asset managers, insurance companies,
hedge funds, commercial banks, sovereign wealth funds
and other types of institutional investors.

Top Investors in Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa
Investor

Country

BlackRock

United States

12,058Vanguard

United States

8,397

Government Pension Fund Global

Norway3,653State Street

United States

3,606

Fidelity Investments

United States

2,512

Public Investment Corporation

South Africa

2,435

Capital Group

United States

2,054Life Insurance Corporation of India

India

1,983

Crédit Agricole

France1,570

Wellington Management

United States

1,555

T. Rowe Price

United States

1,430

JPMorgan Chase

United States

1,416

Geode Capital Holdings

United States

1,342

Dimensional Fund Advisors

United States

1,287Franklin Resources

United States

1,208

M&G

United Kingdom

1,176

Deutsche Bank

Germany

1,151

Berkshire Hathaway

United States

1,010

UBS

Switzerland

980

TIAA

United States

963

Allianz

Germany

938

Sun Life Financial

Canada937

InvescoUnited States

880

TOTAL

40

Total in US$ mil.

54,543

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

The top 23 investors, however, account for 50% of total
investments in the 200 fossil fuel expansionists coveredby our research. Out of these top 23 investors, 14 areheadquartered in the US, 6 in Europe, 1 in Canada, 1 inIndia and 1 in South Africa.
The largest institutional investor in fossil fuel expansion
in Africa is the US-based investment giant BlackRockwith holdings of over US$ 12 billion. The list ofBlackRock’s investments includes many of the top oiland gas expansionists featured in this report. BlackRockholds bonds and shares in value of over US$ 4.3 billion
in TotalEnergies. Its next largest investment is Shell(US$ 1.7 billion), followed by Eni (US$ 958 million),BP (US$ 936 million), Chevron (US$ 805 million) andExxonMobil (US$ 802 million). BlackRock is also invested
in several of South Africa’s largest coal miners, such as
Exxaro and Thungela Resources, and in the country’s
largest coal consumers, Eskom and Sasol. In his 2020
annual letter to clients, Blackrock’s CEO Larry Fink warned
that “climate risk is investment risk”, and predicted
a “significant reallocation of capital” due to climatechange.103 Too bad that BlackRock’s own allocation ofcapital still delivers fossil fuel expansion to Africa andclimate change to us all.

The second largest investor in companies planningfossil expansion projects in Africa is the US mutual fundcompany Vanguard with holdings of US$ 8.4 billion.
Vanguard’s investment profile is remarkably similar toBlackRock’s. Its largest investment is also TotalEnergies(US$ 1.7 billion), followed by BP (US$ 1.3 billion) andother oil majors. Its holdings also include the same
big coal players: Eskom, Sasol, Exxaro Resources andThungela Resources.
Number three in our investor ranking is theNorwegian Government Pension Fund Global, withholdings of US$ 3.7 billion in fossil fuel expansionists
in Africa. The Pension Fund’s largest investment is again
TotalEnergies (US$ 1.5 billion), followed by Eni (US$714 million) and further oil majors. There is, however, a
noticeable difference to the holdings of BlackRock andVanguard: Due to the coal exclusion criteria the Norwegian
Government Pension Fund adopted in 2015 and 2019, it
is not invested in coal mining or coal power companies inAfrica.

III.2. Top Commercial Banks Backing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa
Between January 2019 and July 2022, 352 commercial
banks channeled over US$ 98 billion to companies
developing new fossil projects in Africa. Out of this total,
US$ 44 billion were provided through loans and US$
54 billion through underwriting of new share and bondissuances.104

When viewed through a country lens, we see thatbanks headquartered in the US accounted for 20.3%
of commercial bank support for fossil fuel expansion in
Africa. Next in line are French banks with 13.1%, UK bankswith 12% and Japanese banks with 10.6%. Collectively,banks from these 4 countries accounted for 56% of global
bank finance for fossil fuel developers in Africa.

41

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Country Break-down of Bank Financing for Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa

Canada
2%

Other
12%
United States
20%

India
3%

Germany
3%South Korea
3%

France
13%

Spain
5%
Italy
5%
South Africa
5%

United Kingdom
12%

China
6%
Japan
11%

The number one banker of fossil fuel developers in Africa
is Citigroup, with US$ 5.6 billion. Its top clients were South
Africa’s Sasol (US$ 1.2 billion), BP (US$ 897 million) andTotalEnergies (US$ 619 million). Sasol liquefies coal toproduce synthetic crude oil and plans to develop a new
opencast coal mine in Mpumalanga.105 Sasol is also thecountry’s second biggest CO2 emitter and one of the
key companies lobbying against an effective carbon tax
regime in South Africa.106

gas industry’s expansion plans leads to more droughts,
floods, heat waves and forest fires,“ says Lorette Philippot
from Les Amis de la Terre France.107

With US$ 5.1 billion, JPMorgan Chase is the second largest
banker of fossil fuel expansion in Africa. TotalEnergies(US$ 949 million), Sasol (US$ 938 million) and Eskom(US$ 500 million) were the top three recipients identified
in our research.
The third largest banker of fossil fuel expansion in Africa
was France’s BNP Paribas, with US$ 4.6 billion. Its top
clients were TotalEnergies (US$ 1.1 billion), Eni (US$ 890
million) and BP (US$ 780 million). Three NGOs – Les Amisde la Terre France, Oxfam France and Notre Affaire à Tous
– have recently taken steps to initiate a lawsuit against
the bank as Europe’s largest financier of oil and gas
expansion. “BNP Paribas’ massive support for the oil and42NGOs deliver legal notice to BNP Paribas. © Christophe Da Silva

The following table lists all commercial banks thatprovided over US$ 1 billion through lending andunderwriting to fossil fuel developers in Africa since 2019.
Collectively, these 28 banks account for 72% of total bankfinancing identified in our research.

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Top Bankers of Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa
Bank

Country

Citigroup

United States

5,591

JPMorgan Chase

United States

5,093

BNP Paribas

France4,596Bank of America

United States

4,136

Société Générale

France3,956Standard Chartered

United Kingdom

3,592

Barclays

United Kingdom

3,565

SMBC Group

Japan

3,488

Mizuho Financial

Japan

3,302

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial

Japan

3,153

HSBC

United Kingdom

3,055

Crédit Agricole

France3,034Goldman Sachs

United States

2,185

UniCredit

Italy

2,163

Morgan Stanley

United States

2,049

Santander

Spain

1,984

Standard BankSouth Africa

1,932

Deutsche Bank

Germany

1,730

Intesa Sanpaolo

Italy

1,491

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)

Spain

1,352

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

China

1,341

Masterlink Securities

Taiwan1,280Groupe BPCE

France1,237

DB Financial Investment

South Korea

1,220State Bank of India

India

1,141

Absa GroupSouth Africa

1,136FirstRand

South Africa

1,049Royal Bank of Canada

Canada

1,013

TOTAL

Total in US$ mil.

70,86143

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

What About All Those Net-Zero Commitments?
Since its launch in April 2021, 121 banks have joined
the “Net-Zero Banking Alliance” (NZBA), which now
represents about 40% of global banking assets.108 Whilethe idea behind the Alliance was to move banks towards
the goal of net-zero portfolio emissions by 2050, the bar
for joining was kept low, and the commitments weak.
They, for example, do not yet cover banks’ underwriting
activities. We were nonetheless surprised to see thatmembers of the NZBA account for 71.6% of the US$ 98.5
billion that commercial banks channeled to fossil fueldevelopers in Africa since 2019.
On the investor side, the situation is similar. 15 of the top
23 institutional investors backing fossil fuel expansion
in Africa in 2022, are either members of the “Net Zero

Asset Managers Initiative”, the “Net Zero Asset Owners
Alliance” or the “Net Zero Insurance Alliance”.
“It’s time to end the net-zero hypocrisy,” says Katrin
Ganswindt, finance campaigner at Urgewald. “Net-zerocommitments for tomorrow are meaningless if today’s
finance keeps flowing into the expansion of fossil fuelproduction and use.” As UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres stated during the launch of the 2022 Emissions
Gap Report: “Commitments to net-zero are worth zero
without the plans, policies and actions to back it up. Ourworld cannot afford any more greenwashing, fake movers
or late movers.”109

Conclusion
Fossil fuels are the root of the climate crisis and Africa
is harder hit by this crisis than any other continent. Yet
financial flows, especially from Europe and the US, areshaping a fossil future for Africa. “Multibillion-dollar
investments in fossil infrastructure and the developmentof new hydrocarbon reserves are blocking a just transition
to energy systems that are clean, renewable and actually
serve Africa’s people,” says Omar Elmawi from the Stop
EACOP Campaign.

This report calls on financial institutions to change course:

Step back from the companies
that are blowing up
the world’s carbon budget
and Africa’s future.

44

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Notes
1

https://www.upstreamonline.com/energy-transition/18

birol-in-new-call-to-action-over-ridding-the-world-of-

load/sonstiges/Stellenanzeigen/220711_Senegal_

stubborn-fossil-fuels/2-1-1081311
2

Regional Trends Report Africa, Rystad Energy, June

Fact_Sheet_final.pdf
19

2022
3
4

Regional Trends Report Africa, Rystad Energy, Junepressemitteilung/neue-gasfoerderung-im-senegal-

https://www.petro-online.com/news/fuel-for-deutsche-umwelthilfe-urgewald-und-klima-aktivistyero-sarr-fordern-kl/
21

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/
okavango/

static/517fe876e4b03c6b86a4b81b/t/5d62c0931

le/oil-company-reconafrica-accused-of-drilling-in-afri-

dd64900018a0fff/1566752917055/letter+with+re-https://smartwatermagazine.com/blogs/magicalversity

9

gard+to+BP+EIA.pdf
23

https://ejatlas.org/conflict/kavango-oil-botswana-

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/21/
bp-gas-west-africa-senegal-mauritania-coral-reef/

namibia25

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/25/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/artic-

26

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/21/

misled-investors-sec-complaint-says

bp-gas-west-africa-senegal-mauritania-coral-reef/27

https://www.reuters.com/article/africa-energy-namibia-idUSL8N2S135Z

11

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/21/
bp-gas-west-africa-senegal-mauritania-coral-reef/24

le/oil-exploration-company-in-okavango-wilderness10

https://static1.squarespace.com/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/artic-

water-destinations/world-wetlands-day-beauty-biodi8

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/21/
bp-gas-west-africa-senegal-mauritania-coral-reef/22

can-wildlife-reserve
7

https://www.duh.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2022

basin/54209

6https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/21/
bp-gas-west-africa-senegal-mauritania-coral-reef/

20

thought/13/breaking-news/what-is-the-kavango5

https://www.duh.de/fileadmin/user_upload/down-

bp-gas-west-africa-senegal-mauritania-coral-reef/28

https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/press/51916/

https://www.cffacape.org/publicationsblog/2019/08/25/2019-8-25-how-bp-is-drilling-

congolese-and-international-ngos-hand-over-petitionof-100000-calling-congos-president-to-stop-new-oil-

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/21/

through-the-worlds-largest-deep-water-coral-reefnbsp
29development/

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/21/
bp-gas-west-africa-senegal-mauritania-coral-reef/

12

Press release Natural Justice, September 1, 2022

13

GOGEL uses data from Rystad Energy to determine

static/517fe876e4b03c6b86a4b81b/t/5d62c0931

the development stage of each company’s oil and gas

dd64900018a0fff/1566752917055/letter+with+re-30

assets. The time frame in which different assets movefrom field evaluation and development to production

gard+to+BP+EIA.pdf
31

depends on the nature of the asset. Fracking assets
generally enter production within 1-2 years, while
14

bp-gas-west-africa-senegal-mauritania-coral-reef/
32

bps-mauritania-lng-scheme-raises-environmentalconcerns/
33

https://www.reuters.com/article/bp-tortue-idCNL8Nhttps://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/country-sites/

34
35

https://itineraires.totalenergies.com/en/totalenergies-africa

36

https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/country-sites/

https://www.upstreamonline.com/exclusive/at-least3-billion-barrels-totalenergies-venus-is-sub-saharan-

en_sn/senegal/home/pdf/greater-tortue-ahmeyimfact-sheet-english.pdf

https://jpt.spe.org/tanzania-inks-deal-with-shellequinor-for-30-billion-lng-terminal

en_sn/senegal/home/pdf/greater-tortue-ahmeyimfact-sheet-english.pdf

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/21/
bp-gas-west-africa-senegal-mauritania-coral-reef/

1YQ3I517https://african.business/2021/08/energy-resources/

Source for EU emissions: https://ec.europa.eu/eurotable?lang=en&category=env.env_air.env_air_aa

16

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/21/

ultra deepwater assets may require 5-7 years.
stat/databrowser/view/ENV_AC_AIGG_Q/default/
15

https://static1.squarespace.com/

africas-biggest-ever-oil-discovery/2-1-1174983
37

https://www.offshore-technology.com/comment/
south-africa-energy-brulpadda-luiperd/
45

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

38

https://thegreenconnection.org.za/our-ocean-totaldestruction/

39

mozambique-the-curse-of-natural-gas-a-837db8bd-

03-30-stop-oil-and-gas-exploration-madness-sa-

d37d-4c90-b5cb-025a8444e965
59

https://www.indexmundi.com/algeria/economy_
profile.html#:~:text=Hydrocarbons%20have%20
export%20earnings.

42
43

60
61

https://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/algeria%C2%A0ex-energy-minister-gets-20-year-jail-term-

62

https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1093872

graft

63

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/totale-

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2022/05/30/

nergies-aims-restart-20-billion-mozambique-lng-

methane-satellite-algeria-gas-eu/

project-2022-2022-01-31/

https://www.entv.dz/sonatrach-announces-reaching-64

https://wintershalldea.com/en/newsroom/winters-

ne-2022-07-28/
65

sign-gas-pipeline-project-to-travel-across-sub-saha-

understanding-cooperation-algeria

ran-africa-to-europe/2687365#

https://www.eni.com/en-IT/media/press-

66
67

https://dz.usembassy.gov/occidental-signs-4-billionother-companies/s-board-unfazed-by-sasol-exit
68

50

https://www.madamasr.com/en/2017/08/21/opini-

52

53

https://www.amisdelaterre.org/wp-content/uplo-

on/u/raison-detat-on-giulio-regeni-and-the-return-of-

ads/2020/11/a-nightmare-named-total-oct2020-foe-italys-ambassador-to-cairo/

france-survie.pdf

https://energycapitalpower.com/ccs-project-egypthttps://www.eni.com/en-IT/media/press-

72

Les Amis de la Terre France & Survie Report 2020.
Chapter IV.1, p. 24

73

More than 31,000 people for the Tilenga oil fieldrelease/2022/04/eni-and-egas-agree-increase-egypt-(Tilenga Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs 2, 3a,s-gas-production-and-supply.html

3b, 4 & 5) Executive Summary, September 2020,

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/cost-

p. 138) and more than 86,000 people for EACOP

of-hoima-tanga-pipeline-hits-5b-as-risk-averse-banks-(https://www.amisdelaterre.org/wp-content/uplo-exits-3519504

ads/2021/04/20210407-numbers-of-individual-

https://furtherafrica.com/2021/10/30/mozambiqueexxon-senior-vp-confirms-plans-to-press-ahead-with-persons-affected-by-eacop.pdf).
74

us30b-lng-project/

Les Amis de la Terre France & Survie Report 2020,
Chapter II.3, pp.16-18

54„Block 2 Tanzania“, Equinor, 202275

https://www.totalincourt.org/

55

https://www.iea.org/reports/africa-energy-

76

FIDH Report 2020. P.64

outlook-2022/key-findings

77

See also Oxfam International, 2020. Empty Promises

56
57
46

https://totalenergies.com/projects/liquids-lowcarbon-fuels/tilenga-and-eacop-acting-transparently71

eni-cop27-emissions/51

https://ugandawildlife.org/national-parks/murchison-falls-national-park/70

student49

https://www.tourism.go.ug/_files/ugd/1e6d1c_
fe860fdcb51e4718949bdbc45f2215a0.pdf

69

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/25/
giulio-regeni-death-italy-egypt-libya-cambridge-

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-14/mozambique-8-billion-gas-pipeline-

https://www.eni.com/en-IT/eni-worldwide/africa/
angola.html

https://www.cadtm.org/Nigeria-Morocco-gas-pipeline-Not

production-sharing-agreement-with-sonatrach-and-48

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/nigeria-morocco-hall-dea-and-sonatrach-expand-memorandum-

se-gas-supplies-from-algeria-through-transmed.html

47https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/algeria-niger-nigeria-sign-mou-saharan-gas-pipeli-

release/2022/04/eni-and-sonatrach-agree-to-increa46

https://www.energyintel.com/00000182-e464-d92da5b7-ecfcff270000

berkine-basin/

45

https://friendsoftheearth.eu/publication/fuelling-thecrisis-in-mozambique/commercial-stage-of-gas-discoveries-in-asal-field-in44

https://friendsoftheearth.eu/publication/fuelling-thecrisis-in-mozambique/long%20been%20the,nearly%2095%25%20of%20
41

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/terror-in-

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022scientists-urge-government/

40

export-capacity-in-africa-by-country-and-status/
58

https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/sailing-

Down The Line? A Human Rights Impact Assessment

nowhere-liquefied-natural-gas-report.pdf

of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. https://policy-

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1297972/lng-

practice.oxfam.org/resources/empty-promises-down-Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

the-line-a-human-rights-impact-assessment-of-the-95

east-afric-621045/
78

79

defects-at-kusile-medupi-will-take-5-years-to-fix-says-

https://www.fidh.org/en/issues/human-rights-defenders/uganda-judicial-harassment-against-human-mabuza-20220512
96

mines/perpetual-rights-risks-unrehabilitated-coal-https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/docu-

mines-south-africa

ment/B-9-2022-0408_EN.html
https://www.stopeacop.net/banks-checklist

81

https://www.theafricalogistics.com/2022/09/26/
eu-mps-criticise-east-africa-crude-oil-pipeline-

97

https://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/wp-content/

Report%202022.pdf
98

can-coal-minersmust-get-used-low-export-volumes
99

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/
europe-imports-more-south-african-coal-russian-ban-

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/03/decade-of-looms-2022-06-15/

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/202205-20-gas-is-going-to-be-a-game-changer-inthe-economy-says-mantashe/85

https://ieefa.org/resources/ieefaupdate-south-afri-

uploads/2022/07/EACOP-EPs-assessment.pdf
gas-nigeria-targets-gas-powered-economy-by-2030/
84

https://english.kohlenimporteure.de/files/
user_upload/jahresberichte_en/VDKi_Annual%20

project/

83

https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/07/05/forever-rights-defenders-and

80

82

https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/design-„Global Energy Review: CO2 Emissions in 2021“, IEA
2022

100 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/23/
south-african-environmental-activist-shot-dead-inher-home
101 https://groundwork.org.za/fikile-ntshangase-justicedelayed-yet-more-denials/
102 https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-

86

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/

release/governments-fossil-fuel-production-plans-

87

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.

dangerously-out-sync-paris

ZS?locations=ZW
88

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-30/biggest-china-bank-walks-away-

89
90

https://miningzimbabwe.com/riozim-courts-new-companies by issuing bonds or shares on their behalf

suitors-for-sengwa/

and selling them to investors such as pension funds,

https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2020/05/17/us3bnhttps://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/unit-4-at-

mining-project
106 https://cer.org.za/news/busa-blsa-joint-positionon-delaying-carbon-tax-compromises-corporate-sas-

https://mg.co.za/news/2022-09-29-energy-crisis-climate-credibility

kusile/94

insurance companies, mutual funds etc.
105 https://sahris.sahra.org.za/cases/sasol-alexander-

to-the-grid-full-time-20220601
another-r33-billion-needed-to-complete-medupi-and93

104 Underwriting or investment banking refers to theprocess by which banks raise investment capital for

kusile-is-now-officially-contributing-800mw-of-power92

ceo-letterfrom-3-billion-zimbabwe-coal-plan

sengwa-coal-project-causes-uproar
91

103 https://www.blackrock.com/au/individual/larry-fink-https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/636329/

107 https://www.rfi.fr/en/business/20221027-ngoslaunch-legal-battle-against-french-bank-bnp-overfossil-fuel-investmentload-shedding-to-continue-all-weekend-heres-the-108 https://www.unepfi.org/net-zero-banking/members/

latest-schedule/

109 https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/world-

https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/eskom-headed-climate-catastrophe-without-urgent-action-

turns-100-next-year-heres-how-it-went-from-world-

un-secretary-generalbest-to-sas-biggest-economic-risk-20220927

47

Who is Financing Fossil Fuel Expansion in Africa?

Data Sources for this ReportCompany research
The data on companies’ fossil expansion plans in Africa was extracted from Urgewald’s Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) andGlobal Oil and Gas Exit List (GOGEL). GCEL and GOGEL are public databases that Urgewald updates each year. Urgewald
created these tools to encourage financial institutions to become responsible climate actors and move fossil fuel companies
out of their portfolios.
Global Coal Exit List
The GCEL provides in-depth data on over 1,000 companies and over 2,000 subsidiaries operating along the thermal coalvalue chain. It is the world’s most comprehensive public database on the coal industry and is updated each fall. The GCEL
includes the largest coal plant operators (≥ 5 GW installed capacity) and largest coal miners (≥ 10 mtpa); companies thatgenerate over 20% of their power generation or revenues from coal, and companies that are planning to expand coal mining,coal power or coal infrastructure. Investors representing over US$ 16 trillion in assets are currently using one or more of
the GCEL’s three divestment criteria to exclude coal companies from their portfolios. Most of the information in the GCEL is
drawn from original company sources, such as annual reports, investor presentations and stock filings. An important data
source for the GCEL is also Global Energy Monitor’s Coal Plant Tracker. All in all, companies on the GCEL represent 95% of theworld’s thermal coal production and the world’s coal-fired capacity. The GCEL can be downloaded at: www.coalexit.org
Global Oil & Gas Exit List
GOGEL is a public company-level database that covers over 900 oil and gas companies, which account for 95% of global
oil and gas production. GOGEL allows users to identify which share of a company’s hydrocarbon production stems fromfracking, tar sands, extra heavy oil, coalbed methane, Arctic drilling and ultra deepwater drilling. GOGEL also provides
in-depth data on oil and gas companies’ upstream and midstream expansion plans. It enables users to “look into the
future” and see which companies are developing new oil and gas fields, building new oil and gas pipelines or new LNG
terminals. In addition, GOGEL highlights companies’ involvement in selected high reputational risk projects. These areprojects that exacerbate violent conflicts, cause immense social or environmental harm or are challenged by lawsuits andcommunity opposition. Currently, nearly 200 financial institutions are using GOGEL to scan their portfolios or to develop new
policies. GOGEL’s main sources of information are company data sources such as annual reports, stock filings and investor
presentations, Rystad Energy, and Global Energy Monitor’s Fossil Infrastructure Tracker. GOGEL can be downloaded at:
www.gogel.org
Financial Research
The financial research for this report was carried out by Profundo, a not-for-profit research company based in the
Netherlands. The financial databases Profundo drew upon were Bloomberg, Refinitiv and IJGlobal. The investor data in thisreport is based on filings in July 2022. The bank data covers the period between January 2019 and July 2022. We applied
various adjustors to the financial data. For coal companies, which are only expanding in Africa, we used companies’ coalshare of revenue percentage as an adjustor. For companies, which also have coal expansion plans outside of Africa, we also
used an “Africa adjustor” that reflects the share of expansion planned in Africa. For oil and gas companies based outside of
Africa the procedure was similar. Here, we calculated which percentage of their short-term upstream oil and gas expansion is
located in Africa and used this percentage as an adjustor. For large diversified companies and for companies, which are only
involved in midstream oil and gas expansion, adjustors were calculated on the basis of companies’ segment and geographicalreporting. For questions on the financial data or our methodology, please contact: financeresearch@urgewald.org

48

49

November 2022