IT IS touted by some as possibly the world’s biggest-ever deep-water oil find.
The discovery off the shores of Namibia last year by TotalEnergies and Shell of an estimated 11 billion barrels of crude has generated understandable excitement in the southern African country. Even if only a small portion of that potential load – valued at about $1 trillion (R19 trillion) at current prices – is realistically recoverable, it holds the promise of untold riches for this nation of 2.7 million people. But given what oil finds have spawned elsewhere on the continent, it’s drawing a sobering dose of caution.
“Poor management of the oil and gas sector can drive corruption and inequality that in turn will fuel social tensions and threaten political stability,” Tom Alweendo, Namibia’s minister of mines and energy, said in Windhoek last
