Alliance of African Think Tanks calls for accountability on projects in energy sector

Gertrude Ankah Nov - 08 - 2022 , 09:20

An alliance of African think tanks has called for transparency and accountability for projects in the energy sector.

The think tanks which focus on the areas of governance, anti-corruption, and energy policy is made up of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), IMANI Center for Policy & Education, HEDA Resource Centre, Tax Justice Network Africa, and SEATINI.

The group made the call in a press statement issued on Monday, November 7, 2022, ahead of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt.

They also called for the immediate termination of crony contracts that deepens the energy poverty of citizens.

“The Good Governance for Green Growth Alliance of think tanks call for full disclosure, transparency, and accountability on projects like Tema LNG Terminal and Tema Oil Refinery PPP, the immediate termination of crony contracts that deepen the energy poverty of citizens and reallocation of any climate finance unlocked as a result of COP 27 to only projects with high citizen and civil society participation subject to total transparency.”, they stated.

According to the group, “poorly planned, badly governed, and corrupt energy sector capital projects and investments usually fail, denying African governments of strategic capabilities and flexibilities to address market instability”.

This, they said, makes it impossible for African governments to support African consumers during periods when the cost of living is high and economic crises are rampaging.

Touching on COP27, the group said “until the good governance, accountability, transparency, anti-corruption and broad citizen participation principles originally at the heart of the increasingly cosmetic ESG agenda gets taken seriously, all the noble intentions of the COP process will come to naught.”

The group has launched a series of case studies looking at energy sector investments in Africa where the first of such cases which focuses on Ghana’s Tema LNG Terminal project, will be released at a webinar on Wednesday, November 9.