Sharm El-Sheikh – Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla met with Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) Omar Farouk Ibrahim, on the sidelines of the 27th UN Conference of the Parties on climate change (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday.
Ibrahim lauded Egypt’s for the organization of the conference in a way that makes Africa proud, appreciating the country’s efforts to shed light on climate change impact on Africa and the need for a just energy transition.
He added that the participation of the oil and gas industry for the first time in the climate conference is a wonderful step that did not occur in previous climate conferences and that serves Africa.
El-Molla stressed that Egypt placed the right of Africa to utilise its natural resources on the top of its agenda, as well as the need to achieve a gradual energy transition in the continent.
He stressed that African countries are coordinating at COP27 towards that end.
The Secretary-General of APPO lauded Egypt’s continued support for the organization, stressing that the North African nation is a strong supporter of fellow countries in the continent. He mentioned that the recent accession of 3 countries to the membership of the organization raised the number of its members to 18 countries, and the accession of other countries is under discussion, emphasising the interest of African countries in consolidating cooperation relations among them.
Egypt has been a founding member of the APPO, established in 1987, and it has an important role in maintaining the continuity of the organization, which is one of the most important pillars of joint African action.
