Promises and challenges of the oil & gas offshore industry in West Africa

On Monday March 18, 2019 partners of the COBIA initiative organized at the National Assembly of Senegal a conference, “Promises and challenges of the oil and gas offshore industry in West Africa”. ​​Offshore (oil and gas) activities in West Africa have experienced a significant and extremely rapid development in recent years. Senegal and Mauritania are the main concern.

Romain Schumm from the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) has underlined the necessity of taking into account the requirements to ensure protection of the marine environment, financial transparency and the development of local populations. Several corporate social responsibility (CSR) challenges have been expressed: How can we reconcile the development of offshore activities, actors of civil society and the preservation of the marine environment? How can we monitor the impacts of such activities and ensure the development of good practices?