"Uganda therefore has been presented with the best opportunity to learn from
the other African producers, in so doing, it is hoped we can develop our oil
industry for the positive good and benefit of all Ugandans."
Just shaking my head. Do these people just write for some ego boosting or
what? "Uganda therefore has been presented with the best opportunity to learn
from the other African producers"??
Uganda economy has been sold wholesale to foreigners. Road constructions are
being carried out by some Israelis' or is it Italian companies; Unganda beer
production is under management and control of foreigners; Uganda sugar
productions are being carried out by the Madhvanis; land are being sold off at
give away prices; agricultural industry has been killed - some whites are
producing flowers instead for export to europe! Uganda so called upper and
middle class are consuming foreign goods; seeking treatments abroad incase of
sickness; Uganda healthcare is kaput, with no drugs in the country! Foreign
NGOs are supplying everything the country need, including feeding people in the
IDP camps in the North and East!!
What other sector of the economy is under the indigents' control? Absolutely
nothing, save for the army, police, and prision!! And we are talking of Uganda
being presented with the best opportunity to learn from other African
producers??
Where do these people live? In Jupitor? Does he even know that so called
Tullow and Heritage Oil companies are not Ugandan's; not even African's, of
which Uganda will be lucky to get 0.3% of the oil revenues??
In Southern Sudan, the same shit! Corruption is upto one's neck. People are
literary drawning in high ranking officials' buffoonery. Go and visit a
government official in his home, and he will spend not less than $10,000.00 US
dollars just for your entertainment.
Now United Nations and foreign NGOs are taking it upon themselves to build
houses for ordinary people in the country. Very disappointing.
And guess what, I still don't understand why the black gold's curse of plenty
stalks us!!
Ocii
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Understanding why the black golds curse of plenty stalks us
Benjamin Olobo London
Whilst reviewing the Sunday Times business pages to see how various share
prices are unfolding on the Londons Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE), I
came across an analysis of some well performing shares and amongst was that of
Tullow Oil, who are currently exploring oil in Uganda. I was happy to note that
their share prices were analysed to be doing well. To me this meant that the
oil prospects in Uganda appear good, as reflected by Tullows share prices on
the FTSE, and possibly good things await Uganda.
The discovery of oil in Uganda can at this stage be taken to be a blessing,
if we plan and manage the entire process diligently and transparently.
Many scholars have cited examples of how the discovery of oil in a country can
actually be a curse, which has even been termed as the paradox of plenty. This
is particularly true if you look at countries like Nigeria, that produce over
two million barrels of crude oil per day with output expected to double by the
year 2015. But evidence to-date suggests that there has been no major positive
progress in terms of political, social and economic well-being of the major
African oil producing countries.
Steady decline
On the contrary, it has been reported that Gabon, which peaked oil production
at 365,000 barrels in 1996, has now seen a steady decline in production. This
has affected the economic structure of Gabon, since the government did not
diversify its economic base and was just reliant on oil.
On a positive but negative gain, Gabon was reported to have had the highest
per capita consumption of champagne in that year, but it appears with the
decline in oil volumes, the champagne consumption is also reducing.
Equatorial Guinea is also another country that has so far been transformed by
the discovery of large oil reserves. It initially produced 20,000 barrels per
day, but discovery of more reserves have led to oil production in excess of
265,000 barrels per day.
This has led to large increases in GDP, increased Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) inflows from the USA and the establishment of a direct flight from the
Capital Malabo to Houston, Texas.
Various scholars have researched on the oil boom in Africa and considerable
intellectual effort has been directed at evaluating the pros and cons of oil
discovery in Africa. Observation of trends in the African oil producing nations
seems to point to the following:
Neither has the local populace has not been kept up to-date, nor has it seen
tangible benefits oil brought to their country.
There has been high expenditure on mainly imported goods and despite the high
revenues from oil, no substantial industrial bases have been developed.
The agricultural sector has been neglected and the indigenous populace whose
major income relies of agriculture has been affected.
There have been high levels of civil strife in the localities producing the
oil.
Promotion of good governance and the establishment of transparency and
corruption free structures has been close to zero.
There has been no technical and managerial development of the local citizens
to effectively manage the oil sector. This has mainly been in the hand of
foreign personnel to the future detriment of the oil producing countries.
From the foregoing, oil discovery in Africa has not propelled the major
African oil producers to greater heights as compared to the other oil produces
in Western Europe and Asia.
Uganda therefore has been presented with the best opportunity to learn from
the other African producers, in so doing, it is hoped we can develop our oil
industry for the positive good and benefit of all Ugandans.
Mr Olobo is a consulting engineer in private practice in London
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