Kicking off his three-nation African tour in Senegal, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz outlined a plan to tap into the country’s billions of cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reserves along its Western coast and its border with Mauritania. His outreach trip, which includes stops in Niger and South Africa, comes as Germany and indeed the European Union seek to reduce their reliance on Russian energy imports but also curb Russia’s expanding footprint on the continent.
To this end, Scholz announced at a press conference with Senegalese President Macky Sall: “We have begun exchanges and we will continue our efforts at the level of experts because it is our wish to achieve progress.”
In fact, last Friday, a German official said Berlin is looking into the possibility of opening a gas field in Senegal.
J’apprécie mon entretien de ce jour avec le Chancelier allemand @OlafScholz , en visite officielle au Sénégal. Nos deux pays entretiennent des relations d’amitié et de coopération solides et confiantes que nous avons décidé de porter à un niveau supérieur.🇸🇳🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/wrbY6I0b3n
— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) May 22, 2022
Sall, meanwhile, has said Senegal’s output will touch 2.5 million tonnes a year and could reach 10 million tonnes by 2030. In this regard, Sall said Senegal is “keen” to expand supplies to Europe. At present, Senegal is slated to begin LNG exports to Asia next autumn.
Aside from traditional sources of energy, namely fossil fuels, Scholz also met with Senegalese business people attended an event marking the expansion of a German-backed solar power plant in Diass.
These developments come against the backdrop of Germany joining the European Union’ push for an oil embargo on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this month, the Scholz administration announced that Germany would become fully independent of Russian crude by the end of summer.
Olaf Scholz is embarking on his first Africa tour
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) May 22, 2022
The Ukraine war looms large, as Germany hopes to strike a gas deal with Senegal to divest from Russia and address the war's impact on food insecurity
Scholz and Sall also discussed various other bilateral and international issues including security threats, COVID pandemic, food security, climate protection, and energy security.
In this regard, Scholz said Germany is engaging in “intensive talks” to ensure the resumption of grain exports from Ukraine that have come to a standstill due to the war. He also touched on the need to guarantee that African nations are able to maintain current export levels of fertilizer supplies to arrest the looming threat of food insecurity caused by the Russian invasion.
Some African countries rely on Russia and Ukraine for up to 80% of their wheat requirements and a significant portion of their fertiliser needs as well, as a result of which the war has wreaked havoc on an already vulnerable continent’s food security.
In fact, Rüdiger von Fritsch, a former German ambassador to Russia, claimed that Putin is purposely attempting to engineer a famine in Middle East and Africa so that “starving people from these regions will flee and try to come to Europe.” He asserted, “He wants to destabilize Europe with new flows of refugees so that Western states give up their tough stance toward Russia.”
Simultaneously, Scholz sought to use his visit to expand diplomatic ties with the West African nation. Senegal is one of the partner nations for the Germany-led “Compact for Africa” Initiative under the G20 and has also been invited to attend the G7 summit in Elmau next month, alongside South Africa.
Ich freue mich, @Macky_Sall als Gast beim #G7-Gipfel wiederzusehen. Von dort soll ein Signal starker Demokratien ausgehen. Wir wollen Initiativen für Klima und nachhaltige Investitionen starten, weltweit Ernährungssicherung schaffen und die globale Gesundheit verbessern.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) May 22, 2022
Scholz landed in Niamey today, where he was received by Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum, where discuss food security and the security situation in the Sahel region.
With France and EU Training Mission suspending military operations in Mali, Niger could emerge as the new base for fighting Islamist militias. In fact, Germany has been training Niger’s special forces as part of “Operation Gazelle” since 2018.
The German representative’s visit to Africa comes amidst an increasing Russian influence in the region. In 2019, the first Russia-Africa Summit culminated in the signing of agreements boosting cooperation in fields of security, trade, banking, agriculture, armaments and military equipment, environment etc. A second summit is scheduled for October 2022.
At the 2019 joint summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that “Africa is a foreign policy priority.” Businesses and companies have been expanding operations in minerals exploration in countries like Angola, Namibia, Guinea, and Zimbabwe.
Trade between the Kremlin and African countries has doubled since 2015 to around $20 billion.
Moscow has also been establishing somewhat of a military presence in the country through Kremlin-linked paramilitary companies like Wagner Group, which has operations in Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about to take off on first Africa trip.
— Michaela Kuefner (@MKuefner) May 22, 2022
In Senegal 🇸🇳 and Niger 🇳🇪 focus on anti terror fight in Sahel region, as Mali no longer stable partner.
In South Africa 🇿🇦 focus on business.
Also Climate Club talks with all as 🇩🇪 holds G7 presidency. pic.twitter.com/sBcWMMFO5c
Owing to these ties, most African nations have not taken a strong stance against Russia in the Ukraine war. In fact, both Senegal and South Africa abstained from voting on the United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Senegalese President Macky Sall, who chairs the African Union currently has said that many countries in the region do not want to take sides on the war; rather, they simply “want peace” and are working on facilitating “dialogue and de-escalation.” Sall is expected to visit Moscow and Kyiv in the coming weeks.
To conclude his African tour, Scholz will travel to Johannesburg on Tuesday, where he will meet South African President Cyrill Ramaphosa.
South Africa chairs the G20 African Advisory Group together with Germany and the two countries have strong trade and investment ties. The Federal Chancellor will be attending the 70th-anniversary celebrations of the German Chamber of Commerce in Southern Africa before flying back to Berlin.