The Horn of Africa: The New Hydrocarbons Frontier

Geologists and continental drift theory  led by  Alfred Wegener  believe that the countries in Horn of Africa i.e. Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia do not form part of the African tectonic plate they are  just part a small chunk of the continent that broke off from the Arabian plate and trampled into Africa and further believe that the same oil that was found under Saudi Arabia and Yemen is also to be found under East Africa, Madagascar  our Indian offshore  Africa brothers country is also believed to have been attached to the Kenyan  archipelago called Lamu  that was joined to East Africa before splitting apart about 145 million years ago and during the rifting it pulled apart where as those with a religious touch affirm that the fossil fuels beneath our earth are as a result of the decomposition of  aquatic living matter after the settling of the Noah’s Ark  believed to be somewhere in Mount Ararat - following the heavy floods after God  decided to wipe the wicked  mankind from the face of the earth. The diagram below depicts the earth drifts

  

History apart ,Eastern Africa has become one of the world’s most active exploration areas since Anadarko Petroleum made the decade’s biggest gas discovery off Mozambique, followed by  Tullow Oil Uganda’s discovery of oil way back in 2006 in the  Albertine Basin which analyst predict could be holding  3.5 billion barrels of oil. In Kenya Tullow Oil, which holds the most exploration licenses in Africa of any U.K.-based explorers, discovered   the black Gold in the Turkana Basin area  of Ngamia with the energy players Tullow predicting a total combined flow rate of 2850 barrels oil per day for the oil well, our neighbors Somalia are estimated to hold 80 -billion barrels of oil perhaps this explains why two summits have been held twice  in London not in an African city  in a span of less than two years  in the name of  ending the war and militancy that bedeviled Somalia after the fall of Siad Barre's regime way back in the 1990s and the wavering  of the UK stance on the famous  essential  contacts should ICC indictee now President Uhuru Kenyatta win the election  but are now humbled   to co - operate  with Kenya ‘s  electoral choice .These diplomatic and self positioning  challenges explains why any oil, coal and gas discovery by the foreign firms  boasts their share prices  and eventually their economies as they try to fend off Asian and local  Interests .Investors  as well  consumers are turning their attention to East Africa — especially since this region has the potential to be  a major oil and  gas  exporter to hyper-growth countries like China and India.

  

Countries like Kenya, the rest of the IGAD  and the Great lakes region on the other hand want to enhance intra Africa and regional trade as they move away from colonially set up markets, LAPPSET is one major project meant to achieve such goals however, its only imperative to have peace in Somalia to enable such projects take off in a smooth way hence the short term justification of the  presence of the Amisom forces  in Mogadishu and Kismayo , this relative calm augurs well not only for world economic players to take advantage of the beneath resources by offering painkiller panaceas  in the name of humanitarian aid and grants for development but also provides opportunities for the African economies to advance their economies. One may postulate why after 20 years of turmoil brought about by feuding clans and militant groups in Somalia and the intervention of AMISOM in quelling that civil strife - all the major energy players want to have a cake of the region by buying and leasing blocks and blocks of land to prospect for minerals that they do not wish to have the final products processed in the country of origin. Leaders in the horn of Africa must embrace peace and stability, harness and empower their human resources and develop eco friendly and energy laws that will ensure that resources do not become an impediment to economic growth but act as a platform to unique technological advances and value added agro based economy rather than reliance on being commodity based economies.