Events

Mining communities generally face socioeconomic challenges that require active, stable and efficient revenue sources to address. These socioeconomic challenges include pressure on infrastructure, employment and environment and social vices that need to be mitigated with financing. The delays and partial disbursement of funds deepen the pressure and affect the delivery of planned development programs. Therefore, the need to assess the impacts of such policies on the finances of MMDAs is opportune.

The stakeholder engagement, which is virtual, will have participants drawn from relevant government institutions and mining communities. The discussions will deepen the knowledge on the funding challenges facing MMDA’s in implementing development plans and provide policy options to address these challenges.

On June 4 2020, the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) organized a webinar to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on Africa’s oil and gas sector with a panel of stakeholders and over 600 participants drawn from Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania. The consensus on the way forward after the June 4 webinar was to provide the platform for international oil companies, national oil companies, and indigenous African oil companies and service providers to share the realities of their business management practices and the strategic adjustments they have made in surviving the impacts of the pandemic. The rationale is that COVID-19 has had varied impacts on the operations of companies in Africa’s upstream oil and gas industry, with the attendant consequences on company bottom lines, employment, revenue to governments, and communities. However, many stakeholders do not understand the nature of this impact because of limited conversations from the business community.
In this webinar series, leaders from Exploration and Production companies, National Oil Companies, and Service companies operating in Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, Angola, and Kenya will engage civil society, citizens, governments and the development community on the nature of the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses and the value chain.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has significantly affected global economic growth and demand for oil. The effects of the pandemic on oil prices has been nothing short of devastating: they have reached their lowest levels since 1991 and currently stand at below $30 a barrel. This has posed an alarming threat to the cashflow of oil companies and revenue of African governments. Apart from South Africa, the continent’s biggest economies rely heavily on oil revenue to finance state budget, particularly social spending, and ensure macro-economic growth.