Speaking on the theme “Fostering Local Content in Africa for Africans,” Farouk stressed that Africa has the highest proportion of the population living in energy poverty. He lamented that the continent is overly dependent on foreign oil and gas technologies, despite being in the sector for decades. Farouk urged that countries on the continent should look inward at developing their oil and gas sector. 'We have sadly been conditioned to believe that such dependency is normal.
More alarming is the fact that the African continent has the highest proportion of its population living in energy poverty, with over 600 million Africans living without access to electricity and millions of others living without any access to modern energy. Seventy per cent of the oil we produce is exported, and 70 per cent of the gas is also exported. “Africa must be allowed to use its affordable and readily available source of energy, mainly oil and gas.