Safari Notes

Lake Malawi Malawi needs to find means to uplift its 15 million plus citizen's lives out of the abject poverty and misery that most live in. The small, landlocked country, which is very dependent on assistance and aid from foreign countries and international aid agencies, has taken steps and joined the list of East African countries searching for oil. If it can find oil, Malawi (one of the world's most densely populated and least developed countries) has a very good opportunity of very much improving the living standard of its people. But, the country faces a few daunting problems in its quest for oil.

With reports now stating that the oil wealth, that the island nation had for long hoped for as a stepping stone - to prosperity, will not be a reality for now. The tiny African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe in West Africa is unlikely to realise soon its long held dream that crude oil hidden beneath the waves offshore will lift its people out of poverty and into wealth.This is because big explorers that once jostled for drilling rights in the country of 163,000 people, nestled at the heart of a promising oil region, have backed off after a slew of dry wells, raising questions over how soon the dream will come true . With its stunning beauty , its many agricultural and fish products and its small population of less than 200,000 people - the Island country does not really need oil to develop and lift its people out of poverty. If it focuses and properly manages its tourist potential, which has excellent attractions; if it improves and modernizes its agricultural and fishing sy

It is now being reported that Halliburton might be to blame for the Gulf oil spill that’s currently threatening the coasts, livelihoods, health, and seafood restaurants of many states along the Gulf of Mexico . As for Halliburton, this is what they claim on their site : Halliburton originated oilfield cementing and leads the world in effective, efficient delivery of zonal isolation and engineering for the life of the well. Operators consistently rank Halliburton Cementing No. 1 in total value provided to customers . 'Effective', 'efficient' and 'No. 1' Halliburton has been indeed! They have been so effective and efficient and made billions in profit from their own - Americans, and from many other countries; including from Iraq. Profits made, at any cost. Even if it meant 'selling' un-purified water to their own as they did in Iraq; even if it meant ineffectively and inefficiently cementing the deepwater drilling hole in the Gulf of Mexico. Even if

BP's chief executive, Tony Hayward , has said the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster should not mean the end of deep-water exploration. He told the BBC : " I don't believe it should [result in a ban], in the same way as Apollo 13 did not stop the space programme nor have serious airline accidents from time to time stopped people flying. " His thinking is just like that of the many oil executives and dealers: they only think in terms of figures and profits.  Above photo from: Rocky Mountains Review For Mr. Hayward to compare the Apollo 13 and past air disasters to the current massive and very damaging  oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico, is an insult and a complete lack of responsibility. The Apollo 13 disaster and past air plane crushes were in no way as destructive, perilous, costly and with such damaging long term effect, as the present oil spill is. BP's oil spill is destroying lives and livelihood; does Mr. Hayward know how many dolphins, turtles and other forms of

Biofuels are produced from plants and plant-derived materials. They reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions when used to power engines, cars and other road vehicles. Can biofuels be the answer to a greener and more sustainable future for our Planet? With huge oil reserves lying under it , Uganda is still going after greener energy resources. It has embarked on a project to test the viability of biodiesel from jatropha, a drought resistant crop : The government energy policy advocates increased research and use of modern renewable energy sources which it expects to increase from the current four per cent to 61 per cent of the total energy consumption by 2017. The East African A mature jatropha tree can produce three kilos of seeds annually and continues to yield for up to 40 years. An acre of land can take up to 1,000 trees of jatropha. AllAfrica Unlike: wheat, corn, oil palm, sugar cane, sugar beet and soy - which would only bring more misery than good if used to

I don't think so. I very much hope not so. The latest reports say the oil discoveries in Uganda are unquestionably the largest onshore discovery made in sub-Saharan Africa in at least 20 years, possibly ever . And that one might safely consider production in the order of 150,000 barrels a day over a period of 15, 20 or even up to 25 years. In terms of comparison.......Uganda (would) in the top 50 of oil producers in the world . And this is a report by Al Jazeera on the Ugandan oil: As exploration and work still continues in the oil fields, so much hope and expectations are being put by Ugandans on the oil discovery. As I said before , the focus now is on how Uganda can both benefit from oil and at the same time take care of its magical, natural wonders. The problem: most of the oil so far discovered in Uganda are in the very environmentally sensitive, Lake Albert region . The priority is that: Uganda, with oil, manages to take care and protect its real wealth : its land, its wat

Biofuels are produced from plants and plant-derived materials. They reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions when used to power engines, cars and other road vehicles. Can biofuels be the answer to a greener and more sustainable future for our Planet? Biofuels, if extracted from certain plants and in certain ways, can serve us very well; but for it to be produced from food plants such as: wheat, corn, oil palm, sugar cane, sugar beet and soy - would only bring more misery than good. Already, with the recent high rise in the price of oil and the use of food plants to produce biofuels, food prices, World wide, rose so high that many people across the Globe have been driven to hunger. And then there is the problem of more land and more water being required for the production of biofuels; which could lead to deforestation and be destructive to our water resources. To clean up our environment, is very important and to find alternative means to serve our energy needs, is neces

As Uganda continues to make huge gains in its march to be one of the few countries in Africa to be 'blessed' with Oil, the focus now is on how Uganda can both benefit from oil and at the same time take care of its magical, natural wonders. The problem: most of the oil so far discovered in Uganda are in the very environmentally sensitive, Lake Albert region. View Larger Map Norway, one of the World's leading oil producers, is already warning Uganda on the dangers of not taking care of the environment. Uganda, can learn from Norway and take advice from it - not only on how Norway's oil has greatly benefited that country's people and made Norway one of the richest and best country to live in, on this Planet - but Uganda too, can learn from the Scandinavian country on how to produce oil, and yet be caring and gentle to the environment. How wonderful and beneficial it would be, if Uganda can emulate Norway and lead the way in Africa, and be exemplary, on how to both pro

Uganda hasn't had as much and as an extensive oil exploration history as Kenya and Tanzania. But it has been the luckiest: it has struck oil and is expected to start producing about 10,000 barrels of high-quality crude oil a day, next year; which would reportedly reach 350,000 barrels a day, in five years. Below photo near Lake Albert, an oil rig can be seen in the distance . For Uganda, a country that has slowly been emerging from instability and civil conflict, the discovery of oil is a big blessing and should help in transforming the country and propelling its economy. The Ugandan government already is planning for a refinery and pipelines. It's also planning for further oil exploration around and on Lake Albert and in the North, close to Sudan. The discovery of oil - by propelling its economy, could be an enormous blessing for Uganda's people and help very much in lifting Uganda out of decay and poverty; and assist in healing the many wounds that Ugandans have. That i

Tanzania hasn't had as much oil exploration as Kenya, but it has made discoveries of gas along its coast, at Songo Songo and Mnazi; and has produced and used some of it. Of late, there has been an increase in exploration activity in Southern Tanzania; mainly by Western oil companies. Tanzania's oil exploration has a long history, dating back to the early 1950s but without much success. It's only in the last few years that 'significant' gas discoveries have been made; just recently, more gas has been discovered by an Australian company near Songo Songo. ( Photo: Songo Songo ) But despite these gas discoveries and expected oil discoveries, Tanzania - with an estimated 38 million inhabitants - is still struggling with widespread poverty and remains the poorest of the three East Africa nations. Tanzania is rich in mineral and other natural resources, and has a comparatively very good political system and governance; but due to mismanagement and bad policies, Tanzanians

All the three East African countries are aggressively searching for oil; Kenya more so. Geological evidence gathered and analysed in Kenya and elsewhere reveals with certainty that the country has untapped oil and gas . Most of the oil exploration in Kenya is along the Coast and in the North. For almost three decades now, Kenya has been exploring for oil, with no luck so far; Western and Chinese companies are now involved in oil prospecting all along the Kenyan coast and in the North. ( Photo: Lake Turkana ) Geological evidence gathered reveals with certainty that the country has oil. Kenya spends an enormous amount of its earnings on oil imports; if oil deposits found will be of commercial value, and production starts, it will be the biggest boost that the Kenyan economy can have. With its comparatively good infrastructure and an abundant educated, youthful work force, Kenya's economy needs oil to drive its economy, to emerge from decades of poverty and to fully realize its mai

Africa's proven oil reserves are 7-9% of the World's total, and five countries: Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Angola - dominate the continent's oil production. How much oil Africa has, is not yet truly known; presently, thirty percent of the world's newly discovered oil reserves come from Africa's west coast. But in the serpentine creeks and boggy coast lie daunting obstacles to the promise of oil revenue -- pirates, corruption, violent youth militias, and environmental catastrophes . Corruption and environmental catastrophe, are not only a part of Nigeria, Angola, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, but it seems - is a part of the oil producing industry in all the African oil producing countries. Even Libya with its huge oil reserves, millions of barrels produced daily and a small population, hasn't advanced the quality of its populace as much as say: the U.A.E, Oman, Brunei or Qatar. Oil is not always a boon; in Africa, it seems to have caused the opposite:

Jatropha: the wonder plant that can grow in the poorest of soil; is easy to manage; grows fast and produces seeds for up to 50 years. Its greatest wonder is that, it can produce oil for combustible fuel. Fuel that is environmentally clean. Medically it is used for treating diseases like cancer, piles, snakebite, paralysis, dropsy etc. Still: questions are now emerging as to whether widespread jatropha cultivation is really feasible or whether it will simply displace badly needed food crops in the developing world . More on the Jatropha: Jatropha World , Wikipedia , ecoworld , info.nedfi , Biodiesel Today , jatrophacurcas.net , REUK , Reuters , BP , Jatropha.de , Books , Scholar Image: Google