Africa to Take West to Court Over Energy Financing Discrimination; US Arms Sales to Reach $100 Bln

The first part of this episode explores the reasons for the African Energy Chamber's intention to sue Western financiers over double-standard investments into energy development projects.

A lawsuit, which will "have far-reaching implications for the global financial system," is to be filed against Western financiers for avoiding investing in African energy development, according to NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber and lawyer.

"Natural gas is green in Europe, but it is not green in Africa, double standards. They can finance natural gas in Europe, but they can't finance that as natural gas in Africa, double standard. [...] So you can't come to us and take our money, and then you spend our money and we have nothing. [...] That is just that is not just morally wrong, it is legally wrong," Mr. Ayuk points out.

Ayuk explains that during COP28, "Norway and Germany signed a $50 billion natural gas deal," however gas is not considered green if it is produced in Africa.

"We want to use our resources to grow our own communities and not wait for Europe to save us," he says.

The latter section of the episode analyzes the potential implications of the US arms sales, which might potentially reach $100 billion by the end of 2024.

US Department of Defense sales figures may certainly be great news for arms manufacturers; however, ordinary people engulfed in armed conflict would disagree. Sales for the 2024 fiscal year "may top the $100 billion mark by year's end," the US Department of Defense reports.

Despite "many other industries" forming a part of the US economy, "the military industrial complex, arms, weapons is a massive contributor," according to Dr. Oscar van Heerden, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg.

He mentions that a part of the US' "industrial military complex" is the "continuous exporting of arms packages [...] to the Ukrainian government."

"There's the preaching of peace; there's the preaching of spreading democracy, but unfortunately, when a huge component of your economy is dependent on the military industrial complex, then war is a good thing. It's good for business," Dr. van Heerden explains.

To hear all the details on what the featured speakers had to say, check out the entire episode of the AfroVerdict podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.

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