Towards the Southern tip of Africa lies the Okavango Basin. The Basin covers parts of multiple African countries, but is mostly in Northeast Namibia and Southeast Botswana. The basin, particularly the Okavango delta, is pivotal to Africans because of the many endangered animals-- cheetahs, white and black rhinos, and lions-- that inhabit the area. Additionally, some one million people rely on the area for drinking water and sacred power. Unfortunately, like many other African countries, the oil rich land is under threat for oil production.
ReconAfrica, a Canadian oil and gas drilling company, has already begun drilling test sites in the region. Local residents are plagued by the constant noise of drilling sites and local residents, if the projects continue, these areas will constantly be under the threat of the environmental damage drilling sites pose. The 200,000 residents of the area rely on the basin for fishing, drinking water, and tourism and an oil leak into the basin would have disastrous effects. Additionally, even if oil leaks did not occur, the flaring events that are commonplace at drilling sites prevent a major health risk. The natural gas that seeps out at drilling sites isn’t valuable enough to contain so, to preserve their pockets, oil companies burn the leached natural gases into the atmosphere. A study out of California found that flaring events in close proximity to ones residents drastically increases the chances of fetal diseases and asthma.
ReconAfrica’s decision wouldn’t just affect the human population of the basin; it could also cause more serious threats to the area’s fragile ecosystem of rare animals. Elephants rely on underground tremors to perceive distress calls, predators, and nearby human activity. Drilling sites are linked to an increase in underground vibrations which would present a deadly problem for the rare elephant population.
This is not the first time African countries have been targeted for their oil potential and this will certainly not be the last. The most famous case is the exploitation of habitants in the Niger delta in North Africa. Just like for residents of the Okavango Basin, fishing and farming were the main economic suppliers. As oil started leaching into the water supply a job and good health became extraordinary gifts. Anger grew in the region and militants began, and continue, to monkey-wrench and destroy oil companies' projects. Additionally, the Nigerian government began imprisoning and mistreating those who fought against the dangerous oil operations. Nigerians were fighting against their own government, militants, and foreign companies. The environmental damage remains, particularly for the Ogoni people, combined with the poor environmental conditions likely increased the effects COVID-19 had on Nigerians. Similarly, the economic impacts of COVID were felt throughout the country as decreasing oil prices made it impossible for the oil-linked country to bounce back: Nigeria faced a major recession due to this.
Unfortunately, little can be done to prevent or even alleviate the threat of oil production in the Okavango Basin. ReconAfrica members are friendly with powerful political figures in Namibia and the company already owns vast amounts of the region. However, educating ourselves in the complex history of oil production and the environmental and political hegemony of countries is an important step in understanding the ongoing environmental debate.
Charlotte R
The Carbon Newsprint
Image source:https://nigeriaisgreat.org.ng/2020/04/29/east-africas-oil-industry-a-new-story-in-the-making/
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