The African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) says that over 600 million people on the continent are living without access to any modern energy.

Omar Farouk, Secretary General of APPO, disclosed this recently at the third edition of the African Local Content Roundtable in Abuja.

Speaking on the theme “Fostering Local Content in Africa for Africans,” Farouk stressed that Africa has the highest proportion of the population living in energy poverty.

He lamented that the continent is overly dependent on foreign oil and gas technologies, despite being in the sector for decades.

Farouk urged that countries on the continent should look inward at developing their oil and gas sector.

“We have sadly been conditioned to believe that such dependency is normal. More alarming is the fact that the African continent has the highest proportion of its population living in energy poverty, with over 600 million Africans living without access to electricity and millions of others living without any access to modern energy. Seventy per cent of the oil we produce is exported, and 70 per cent of the gas is also exported.

“Africa must be allowed to use its affordable and readily available source of energy, mainly oil and gas. Today’s developed countries used it to get to where they are today; we must also be allowed to use it to lift the living conditions of our people and get them out of poverty,” he stated.

Over 600m people lack access to modern energy in Africa – APPO