BY BUSINESS EDITOR
MBABANE – According to a recent Wisevoter survey, Eswatini was one of the ten countries on the continent with the least amount of oil consumption.
Although the outcome would not fully satisfy the hopes of some countries advocating for a definitive “phase-out” order for fossil fuels, it represents a significant achievement. A decision was made to move away from oil and gas, the primary fuels that have powered the world economy for decades and have significantly impacted the planet’s rapidly changing climate, for the first time.
This result implies that in order for economies that rely heavily on fossil fuels to remain robust, those nations may want to think about diversifying their economies. They run the risk of lower investment and a declining market for their fossil products if they don’t take this action.
This group includes many African nations, who may suffer a decline in oil-related revenue in the future. Numerous economies on the continent are already entangled in a web of high debt and declining revenue, so this will undoubtedly have a significant impact on them.
African nations contend, however, that they have the same rights as more developed countries to utilise their natural resources and advance. However, this strategy is not viable, especially when considering investments. Producing fossil goods or funding ventures without a sustainable market carry substantial risks.
OPEC believes oil demand will grow to 116 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2045 from 102 million bpd today. By contrast, the International Energy Agency, which represents industrialised energy consumers, sees oil demand declining to 93 million bpd by 2030 and 55 million bpd by 2050.
Despite the advantages to a nation, there are disparities in the fuel consumption trends of African countries. Some countries use less fuel on a daily basis than others; the size of the population and the availability of sustainable energy sources are two elements that influence this difference.
In order to lessen their dependency on fossil fuels and lessen their negative environmental effects, many nations are investing in renewable energy sources including solar, wind, and hydroelectric power.
These are the top oil-consuming nations on the continent, according to a recent Wisevoter analysis. Because oil is traded and measured in barrels, it offers a statistic to evaluate the daily consumption of a nation or the world.
Below are the 10 African countries with the lowest daily fuel consumption:
| Rank | Country | Oil consumption | Global rank |
| 1 | Comoros | 1,300 Mbbl/d | 185 |
| 2 | Burundi | 1,500 Mbbl/d | 183 |
| 3 | Western Sahara | 1,700 Mbbl/d | 180 |
| 4 | Chad | 2,200 Mbbl/d | 177 |
| 5 | Guinea-Bissau | 2,500 Mbbl/d | 176 |
| 6 | Central African Republic | 3,000 Mbbl/d | 175 |
| 7 | Eritrea | 3,600 Mbbl/d | 170 |
| 8 | Eswatini | 5,000 Mbbl/d | 166 |
| 9 | Lesotho | 5,000 Mbbl/d | 165 |
| 10 | Equatorial Guinea | 5,200 Mbbl/d | 163 |
