Ghana president tells firms to pump oil 'like there's no tomorrow'
ABIDJAN - Ghana's President John Mahama urged global firms to ramp up crude oil production in the West African nation before the global shift to renewable energy renders the resource worthless.
He warned that Ghana risks seeing its oil resources stuck in the ground if drilling is not fast-tracked while demand still exists.
Many countries have pledged to reduce their use of oil and gas to meet international targets for reducing carbon emissions that drive deadly climate change.
"Oil is in transition. Everybody who has any assets should be pumping like there's no tomorrow," Mahama told the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
"I will lay a red carpet to anybody who wants to drill and pump oil because in the next decade or two, the world will have made a transition to renewables."
Mahama, who took office in January, accused the previous government of Nana Akufo-Addo of stalling oil exploration through regulatory bottlenecks and disputes with key investors such as British-based company Tullow and ENI of Italy.
He said the sector suffered "a lot of disinvestment" as the previous government had "squabbles" with Tullow.
Ghana's petroleum sector has seen a steady decline in output, according to the statutory body that monitors petroleum revenues in Ghana, the Public Interest and Accountability Committee.
It said crude oil production dropped to 48.25 million barrels in 2023 from 71.44 million in 2019 largely due to reduced investment in new wells.
Mahama blamed regulatory uncertainty for the exodus of some key players.
"ENI was held in contempt and they had to move all their expatriate management to Cote d'Ivoire," he noted, adding that now the company was "back and they are drilling again".
Ghana's major offshore oil assets include the Jubilee Field, operated by Tullow Oil, as well as the TEN and Sankofa fields, with players including Kosmos Energy, PetroSA, and the state-owned GNPC.
While calling for aggressive oil drilling, Mahama stressed Ghana must not abandon its clean energy goals.
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Daily Maverick
4 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Rectifying the ‘false' colonial narrative of Nongqawuse and the cattle culling of 1856
My book, Triangle of One Hundred Years Wars, provides a compelling African perspective which unravels the forgotten history of the Eastern Cape. It interrogates the longest unparalleled wars of resistance in Africa which used to be defined as Frontier Wars; unravels the false colonial narrative of Nongqawuse as the facade of the biological weapon of mass cattle decimation of AmaXhosa, and is a critical examination of the distorted narrative in the South African secondary schools history textbooks. For purposes of this exercise the focus is on the narrative of Nongqawuse examined in the context of the wars fought by AmaXhosa to resist the Dutch and the British encroachment in South Africa from 1779 until 1879. The book is anchored on the assertion that AmaXhosa killed their cattle in order to arrest the spread of the European cattle lung sickness known as epizootic (C.B Andreas, 2005, The Spread and Impact of the Lung sickness Epizootic of 1853-57) in the Cape colony and the Xhosa Chiefdoms). The construction of the Nongqawuse narrative was a cover-up in order to hide the historical fact that the resistance of AmaXhosa was broken by decimating their productive capabilities through what one defined as the continuation of the war through the introduction of the highly contagious and lethal European cattle lung sickness. Why was it necessary to resort to the biological weapon of cattle destruction? One may recall that the royal leaders of AmaXhosa, such as Prince Chungwa of AmaGqunukhwebe, Prince Langa of AmaMbalu, Prince Ndlambe and Prince Mdushane of AmaRharhabe, fought five wars against the Dutch and the British settlers from 1779 until 1819. The wars were fought in what was known as the Zuurveld between the Gamtoos and Fish rivers. In the first three wars, between 1779 and 1803, the Dutch failed to dislodge AmaXhosa in the coveted Zuurveld region. In the fourth war of 1811-1812 AmaXhosa retreated from the Zuurveld after the British-led army resorted to ethnic cleansing by killing women and children. In the fifth war of 1819, AmaXhosa were crushed by the British artillery in the Battle of Grahamstown, which is still celebrated annually in South Africa. The rise of the highly courageous sons of King Ngqika, such as Maqoma, Tyali, Anta, Xhoxho, Mathwa and Sandile, became a game-changer in the wars of resistance. The bone-crushing confrontation between Prince Maqoma Ah! Jongumsobomvu and Major General Harry Smith, the Duke of Wellington, in 1835 marked the first defeat of the British army in Africa. Smith and the governor, Sir Benjamin Durban, were fired. The Dutch settlers embarked on the Great Trek after they suffered heavy losses in the war. In 1846, the region witnessed the spectacle of a convoy of 125 wagons loaded with ammunition and supplies led by the revered Major General John Hare, a Knight of Hanover, in the invasion of Keiskammahoek in order to dislodge AmaXhosa from the fortress of the Mathole mountains. AmaXhosa were led by the young unassuming King Sandile Ah! Mgolombane. While the British army was navigating its way to the designated military base near Mkhubiso village, Sandile launched a surprise and ruthless ambush. The overwhelming power of the pulverising onslaught dismantled the core of the British army. Noel Mostert, in his book Frontiers, defined it as the worst humiliating defeat of the British army in Africa. Hare resigned and later succumbed to a heart attack. He was buried on the Island of St Helena. On 24 December 1950, the AmaXhosa regiments and the British army locked horns in what became the longest war of resistance in Africa. It was an agonising encounter. The British named Mthontsi, Mount Misery because of the worst unbearable suffering in the history of the wars of resistance. The huge losses on the battlefield led to the recall of Harry Smith and Henry Sommerset. They were replaced by Colonel Fordyce who was later killed on Mount Misery. The collapse of the government of Prime Minister John Russell in Britain in 1852 was attributed to the war. The three consecutive defeats of the British army in 1835, 1846 and 1850-1853 raised questions about whether the army had the capabilities to counterbalance the sting of the relentless resistance of AmaXhosa. In the three defeats the British commanders were outsmarted and outmanoeuvred by the highly gifted sons of King Ngqika. The fact that the firepower of the British artillery was rendered obsolete by the brilliant execution of the surprise, simultaneous attacks remained a source of frustration. The unprecedented collective resolve displayed by AmaXhosa supported by Nkosi Mapasa of AbaThembu and Nkosi Ngxukumeshe Matroos of the Khoi-San in the War of Mlanjeni, drew a line in the sand. In essence the continued, rapid ascendancy of AmaXhosa on the battlefields through their highly innovative military strategies and the ability to sustain wars meant that an alternative strategy had to be devised to attain the colonial conquest of South Africa. The arrival of Sir George Grey in the Cape colony in 1854 – the first civilian governor since the second British occupation of the Cape in 1806 – signalled a major shift from the application of military action as an instrument of conquest of AmaXhosa. Hence AmaXhosa started experiencing an alien European cattle lung sickness at the beginning of 1855. In 1856, AmaXhosa resorted to cattle culling to arrest the rapid spread of the disease. They continued doing so until 1857. Interestingly, Professor Jeff Peires, in his book The Dead Will Arise, acknowledged the correlation between the rapid spread of the cattle lung sickness and the cattle culling implemented by AmaXhosa. On the same note, the colonial narrative that AmaXhosa killed their cattle in response to the prophecy of Nongqawuse claimed that it occurred in 1856 and 1857. The deliberate omission of the effects of the catastrophic calamity of the cattle lung sickness which occurred in the same period was meant to drive a particular narrative in perpetuation of the colonial interest to the detriment of AmaXhosa. In retrospect, the false colonial narrative of Nongqawuse created deep-seated psychological scars of shame, self-hatred and a mental inferiority complex. To a certain extent the Nongqawuse narrative contributed to the creation of a permanent state of psychological self-induced surrender and submission. The false narrative of distorted history continues to manifest itself through self-destructive tendencies such as a consumer mentality and the death of Ubuntu. In conclusion, one of the contributions of the Triangle of One Hundred Years Wars is the rectification of the continued perpetuation of distorted history. The book attempts to create possibilities of critical interrogation and the deeper understanding of our history, hence it unearthed the brilliant contributions of AmaXhosa in the longest, unparalleled wars of resistance in Africa. DM
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Trump suspends entry of international students studying at Harvard
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suspended for an initial six months the entry into the US of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard University, amid an escalating dispute with the Ivy League school. Trump's proclamation cited national security concerns as a justification for barring international students from entering the US to pursue studies at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university. Harvard in a statement called Trump's proclamation 'yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard's First Amendment rights.' 'Harvard will continue to protect its international students,' it added. The suspension can be extended beyond six months. Trump's proclamation also directs the US State Department to consider revoking academic or exchange visas of any current Harvard students who meet his proclamation's criteria. The directive on Wednesday came a week after a federal judge in Boston announced she would issue a broad injunction blocking the administration from revoking Harvard's ability to enrol international students, who make up about a quarter of its student body. The administration has launched a multifront attack on the nation's oldest and wealthiest university, freezing billions of dollars in grants and other funding and proposing to end its tax-exempt status, prompting a series of legal challenges.
IOL News
12 hours ago
- IOL News
Blind SA welcomes court ruling for independent inquiry into school mistreatment
The Pietermaritzburg High Court has ordered that an independent investigation should be instituted to probe allegations of mistreatment and sexual violence of pupils at Arthur Blaxall School for the Blind. Image: Supplied The Pietermaritzburg High Court has ordered that an independent investigation should be instituted to probe allegations of mistreatment, including the alleged sexual violence of learners at a KwaZulu-Natal-based school for the blind and visually impaired. This was after the court ruled that a curator ad litem should be appointed to investigate the allegations at Arthur Blaxall School for the Blind. The case was brought by Blind SA last year, following allegations that were made in 2018. Blind SA, in its application claimed the original investigation into the allegations against the school was inadequate. No one was criminally charged and prosecuted after the school and the provincial education department concluded their initial investigation. The Department of Education attempted to oppose the application on the basis that the issues raised had been addressed, saying a new investigation would disrupt the school's operation. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ However, the court this week ordered that a curator should be appointed to conduct an independent investigation. The curator is expected to compile a detailed report and submit recommendations to the court by September 30. It will also investigate allegations of poor quality of food and living conditions, as well as the school programmes. KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson for education, Muzi Mahlambi and his colleague, Mlu Mtshali, did not respond to messages and calls. Elijah Mhlanga, the spokesperson for the Department of Education, requested a copy of the court papers but did not respond to queries. Blind SA, which was represented by the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC), said the situation at the school reflects a broader, systemic failure in the provision of safe and dignified hostel conditions for learners with disabilities across South Africa. 'We welcome the High Court's order as an important step toward accountability and systemic reform for learners with disabilities at school hostels. Through the appointment of an independent curator, we hope that meaningful, evidence-based recommendations will emerge to drive urgent improvements at Arthur Blaxall and beyond. Learners with disabilities deserve to access education in environments that respect and uphold their dignity and rights,' Blind SA said in a statement. Blind SA chief executive officer, Jace Nair, added this will enable the curator to engage with stakeholders, including learners, staff, education officials and the community to probe the concerns and "propose effective lasting recommendations that will address the systemic changes required to prevent abuse and negligence and promote a human rights-based approach for equitable and quality education for blind and partially sighted learners". The court added that the person who would be nominated should have at least 10 years of relevant experience.
