Business Day: South Sudan oil investment could turn out to be a risky bet for SA

The Africa Oil and Power (AOP) Conference taking place in Cape Town this week is a high-powered event bringing together African governments and top executives of corporates across the energy value chain.

The AOP website describes it as “the venue for deal-making with Africa’s emerging enterprises and economies”

Deals may be clinched, but will they benefit the majority of people in Africa, or will they perpetuate the grim reality of a continent whose oil has been extracted almost for free with serious environmental and human rights consequences?

From big to small producers, the story is the same — oil revenues flow into the hands of corporates and individuals while the majority of people on the lands from which the oil is extracted remain in the grip of devastating poverty…