Friday, February 21, 2014

East Africa's Oil and Gas Boom - Promise and Peril

The Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings and Oxfam America hosted on 20 February 2014 a half-day conference in Washington titled "East Africa's Oil and Gas Boom -- Promise and Peril."  The conference focused on recent gas and oil discoveries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Mozambique and their potential to transform the economies of East Africa.  The panelists also considered how these discoveries can exacerbate local conflict, fuel corruption, negatively impact the environment, and disrupt local communities and livelihoods.

The three panel sessions can be viewed on webcast. The participants are:

Panel 1: Protecting Rights, Protecting the Environment, Preventing Conflict
  • Maria Ramos, senior program advisor, Oxfam America
  • Ikal Angelei, executive director, Friends of Lake Turkana
  • Bennett Freeman, senior vice president, Calvert Asset Management and trustee, Institute for Human Rights and Business
  • Emily Greenspan, senior policy advisor, Oxfam America
  • Peter Veit, acting director, Governance Center of Excellence, World Resources Institute
  • Sandy Sash, vice president, Safety, Sustainability and External Affairs, Tullow Oil



Panel 2: Transformative Wealth, Transforming Economies?
  • Ian Gary, senior policy manager, Oxfam America
  • Prosper Ngowi, professor of economics, Mzumbe University in Tanzania
  • Charles Wanguhu, coordinator, Kenya CSO Platform on Oil and Gas
  • Godber Tumushabe, Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment in Uganda
  • Mohamed Amin Adam, executive director, African Center for Energy Policy in Ghana



Panel 3: Supporting the Way Forward -- Business and Policy Responses to Challenges and Opportunities
  • Mwangi S. Kimenyi, director, Africa Growth Initiative
  • Simon Thompson, chairman, Tullow Oil
  • Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, lecturer in African politics, Oxford University
  • Carlos Pascual, special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs, U.S. Department of State