Covid-19 puts African energy on pause

Discoveries have been almost non-existent since the pandemic, and investments in the power sector have stalled despite urgent need

When Covid-19 became a pandemic in February, Petroleum Economist feared it would impact the oil and gas industry disproportionally hard in sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, this prediction has come to pass. Global discovery volumes have understandably been weak so far this year. Discoveries of conventional resources were the lowest of any H1 of the 21st century, at just 4.9bn bl boe, according to data and analytics company Rystad Energy, with average monthly discoveries down 34pc. But Africa accounted for less than 1pc of these volumes, while Russia, South America and the Middle East accounted for a combined 73pc. The Covid-19 lockdown, travel restrictions and associated logistical issues w