By Gladys Fred Kole
African continent must start creating its own market for fuel resources, South Sudan’s minister of petroleum has suggested.
Minister Puot Kang voiced his concern during the opening of the South Sudan Oil and Power Conference and Exhibition in Juba, on Thursday.
According to Minister, creating market for Africa’s oil within the continent could be possible through collaboration.
He suggested, sharing resources and knowledge to solve common African challenges on a regional basis using international agreements, and treaties such as the African continental free trade agreement.
But the petroleum minister was quick to underline the international players’ role in the global financial market control system.
“The most unfortunate part here is that even our own banks are still depending on somebody somewhere especially when you want to go and get a loan somebody somewhere has to be asked,” he lamented.
He stressed that those dictating do not even put into consideration circumstances African continent faces.
Mr. Puot urged African leaders to rise up in the international arena and take an influential role in global affairs to avoid being degraded.
“If we want to progress and sit equally at the same table, if we want to stop our leaders being parked in one bus, we must do the right thing otherwise, we shall still continue the same way and it is not going to stop whether we like it or not” he echoed.
He cited the scenario in which Africans had been called for the summit to be addressed by one president from the European countries and the West.
“One president in one capital will call over fifty presidents from Africa and they go and sit in front of this president and lecture them for hours and call it a summit for our presidents to only return to Africa with no results, yet they have traveled there” Mr. Puot lectured.
Mr. Puot suggested that Africans need to start believing in themselves by doing the right thing and other people will look for them to shake hands” he further submitted.
Mr. Puot however slammed Africans for having an inferiority complex to the extent that “we don’t even believe in ourselves.”
The main purpose of the South Sudan Oil and Power Conference forum is to influence the country’s strategic position as the only oil-producing country in the East African region.
The oil conference aims to attract more investment into the petroleum value chain through capital raising and innovative financing to help build critical infrastructure and energy projects.