'Russia Has Always Been Supportive of African Development Initiatives,' Tanzanian Oil Executive Says

“Tanzania currently has undertaken one of the largest infrastructural projects in the region. We have the Nyerere hydroelectric power plant, which generates two gigawatts of electricity. But also we have the LNG project, which is one of the largest projects [in] the region and is expected to start as soon as the negotiations are concluded by the end of this year. But also Tanzania has launched an electric train, the first electric train in the eastern African region, which actually is unlocking the economy of the country, but also the economies of the neighboring countries,” he explains.

“There is a lot of double standards and hypocrisy. America, they didn't even sign the Paris Agreement, yet they pretend to be the champions of environmental protection. Even in the US, we see there's a lot of licensing of oil and gas exploration, in the UK as well. We know these projects, once you license them today, they will continue their implementation for the next 20, sometimes 40 years. So there is a lot of hypocrisy in this matter. So, I think Africa, we shouldn't be actually distracted by this because I think the idea of the West is, they are only kicking the ladder that took them up there, they don't want us to go up through the same ladder,” Mgaya stresses.

“Russia has always been supportive of African development initiatives. So Gazprom coming; we believe that this is [a] true partner that will support Africa, of course, and Tanzania in particular, to advance its own agenda. But also trying to support it in the areas where it definitely needs the experience, the expertise, the resources from Gazprom, so it will have a positive impact on Tanzania's energy strategy in the future,” he attests.