By Tswelopele Makoe

South Africa’s former president Thabo Mbeki once candidly said: “The evolution of humanity says that Africa reaffirms that she is continuing her rise from the ashes.”

Senegal is currently emulating this sentiment immaculately.

The west-African nation has been officially declared an oil-producing powerhouse, thanks to its Sangomar offshore field.

The Sangomar field, which officially began production this past month of June, is located south of Dakar in the Atlantic Ocean, and is estimated to hold over 500 million barrels of recoverable oil reserves.

This new discovery has triggered a surge in the confidence and optimism of the nation. This not only presents a major opportunity for the Senegalese economy and populace, but also for the power of the nation in bilateral and international relations.

Furthermore, this has led to a steel influx of international energy companies, highlighting the region's potential as a major oil-producing magnetic force.

Senegal has now been announced as an official member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The development of Sangomar was led by an array of stakeholders, including Capricorn Senegal Limited (a subsidiary of Cairn Energy), and the Senegalese national oil company, Petrosen.

This collaboration means that there will be a comprehensive approach to this project, utilising all available shared expertise, explorations, production and project management skills.

This will be an opportune time for Senegal to undertake strategic opportunities that address the unique challenges of the nation, and the complexities of the global energy sector.

The production of oil by Senegal will be extremely transformative to its society, not only presenting a pivotal opportunity for the economic growth of the nation, but also meaningful bolstering development.

Senegal’s oil revenues are expected to amplify healthcare initiatives, education, government finances, infrastructure development projects, and much more. Additionally, the nation's oil industry will foster opportunities for employment, development, economic diversification, and overall growth in related sectors.

This will have a ripple effect across the Senegalese society, contributing to the eradication of poverty, illiteracy, and economic growth.

With the benefits of oil production, comes a set of responsibilities. Senegalese leadership, particularly in the energy sector, will have to remain vigilant about potential obstacles in this process – namely, rampant corruption, various forms of sabotage, and the misuse of resources.

Senegal leadership has underscored their commitment to the implementation of extensive social, economic and environmental safeguards. This includes ensuring that the process of oil production has a minimal ecological impact, promoting investment, and ensuring that local communities directly reap the benefits of the project by way of employment, development or social initiatives.

It will be on the onus of the nation’s leaders to ensure that their oil production processes are adhering to international best practices in sustainability.

Another key challenge that will need to be contended with is the maintenance of transparency in resource management. Recent reports, however, have indicated that Senegal is actively developing policies and frameworks to effectively manage these challenges.

It is learning from the experiences of other African oil-producing nations, such as Gabon, Libya and Nigeria, to name a few. In addition, the exploration of these nations, as well as various neighbouring regions that are oil-producers, coupled with ongoing technological developments, will enhance Senegal's role as a regional hub for energy development.

This transformation has already begun to attract new investment from all over the world. These will bolster the funding and development of infrastructure and energy projects.

This is a massive opportunity for Senegal to improve the lived realities of its citizens, and to achieve a proliferated rate of development across the nation.

Although the nation is fairly new to oil production, it continues to steadily gain geopolitical influence and economic leverage.

Many have attributed the newfound success of the nation to its newly-minted leader and the Fifth President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

Although President Faye assumed leadership at the beginning of this year, he has already gained widespread popularity.

President Faye, who was imprisoned approximately a year ago (and released days before the election that minted him the presidency), is notable as one of the top five youngest African leaders to ever assume power, at the age of 44.

Although President Faye has always been revolutionary in his approaches to transformation, he has been exemplary in proving that the youth in Africa should be undertaking more meaningful positions of leadership.

In our own context of South Africa, it has been continuously argued that young people, although bestowed with symbolic or secondary opportunities of leadership, are not necessarily bestowed with impactful, meaningful leadership positions in our society.

What President Faye is proving is that the effectiveness of a leader does not merely depend on his age or history, but on the quality of his leadership. Young Africans are generally stereotyped as radical or extremists, but this approach is necessary considering the repressive history of the continent.

An approach that is proudly revolutionary, pan-Africanist, intentionally progressive and drives the reformation of national structures and institutions is necessary to overcoming the challenges that ravage modern African nations.

Today’s leaders need to be revolutionaries, need to be progressive, in order to effectively redress the issues that we face in the contemporary African context.

In fact, all modern day Africans should take a page from President Faye’s book, not only in being fearless, but also being determined and venturesome in one’s leadership. Truly, he reflects the sentiments of the ancient proverb that says “a new broom sweeps clean”.

History has highlighted the varying contests where the minerals and resources inherent in the African continent are concerned. Nevertheless, innumerable African countries still live in abject poverty, poor infrastructure, inaccessible education, and many other human rights issues.

Leaders such as President Faye are emulating the drive of countless youths of today, youth who value education, creativity, dynamism, adaptability, progression, and so much more that equates to empowerment in today's global dynamics. Leaders such as him are showing us that young people are the leaders of tomorrow.

With careful planning, responsible management, and international collaboration, Senegal is poised to navigate the complexities of oil production and emerge as a sustainable energy leader in the region, and the continent.

As Senegal undertakes its new position in the global oil production arena, it must be cognizant of the ways in which it can manoeuvre the global energy landscape.

This is a pivotal time in the history of Senegal, a time when it will be fully engulfed in geopolitical influence and economic leverage. In Senegal’s voyage to the heavyweights of the oil and gas industry, may it remember the Evolutionist Charles Darwin’s profound advice: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

* Tswelopele Makoe is a Gender & Social Justice Activist and the Editor at Global South Media Network. She is a Researcher and Columnist, published weekly in the Sunday Independent, Independent Online (IOL), Global South Media Network (GSMN), Sunday Tribune and Eswatini Daily News. She is also an Andrew W Mellon scholar, completing an MA Ethics at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, UWC. The views expressed are her own.

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