Nigeria, Benin, Togo, others ban Europe’s ‘dirty fuels’

Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire – five countries in West Africa have decided to stop importing “dirty fuels” from Europe, the UN Environment Programme says.

Elombah.com had, on 17 September, 2016, published a shocking report narrating that a Swiss campaign group, Public Eye, revealed how oil firms ship deadly fuel to Nigeria and many African countries.

According to the report, International oil trading firms are selling fuel, petrol and diesel containing poisonous substances for consumption in Nigeria and other African countries.

The study by Public Eye said retailers were exploiting weak regulatory standards in the affected countries.

The group, in a 160 page report, said the petrol and diesel grades shipped to Africa have been banned in Europe and the United States.

Public Eye said low fuel quality standards across Africa that allow on average 200 times the sulphur content of Europe’s fuels enable trading houses and retailers to sell dirty-but-cheaper fuels that will “jeopardise the health of millions of people.”

“Swiss traders and others maximize profits by taking advantage of weak regulations to produce and sell harmful fuels,” the report said.

“This form of regulatory arbitrage ignores the serious risks to public health.”

In this latest development, it was confirmed that European companies were exploiting weak regulations in West Africa to export fuels with high levels of sulphur.

Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire agreed on the import ban.

The UN says the move will help more than 250 million people breathe safer and cleaner air.

The sulphur particles emitted by a diesel engine are considered to be a major contributor to air pollution and are ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top global health risks.

It is associated with heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory problems.

In a statement, the UN environment programme says the West African group, in addition to banning the import of dirty fuels, has also agreed to upgrade the operations of their national refineries.

The upgrade, which will concern both public and privately owned refineries, is meant to boost standards in the oil produced in the five countries.

The report into Europe oil exports released in September particularly criticised the Swiss for their links to the African trade in diesel that has toxin levels illegal in Europe.

Erik Solheim, the head of UN Environment Programme, hailed the import ban.

“West Africa is sending a strong message that it is no longer accepting dirty fuels from Europe,” Mr Solheim said.

“Their decision to set strict new standards for cleaner, safer fuels and advanced vehicle emission standards shows they are placing the health of their people first,” he added

For a long time African countries relied on colonial-era standards, which have only been revised in recent years.

Nigeria’s Environment Minister Amina Mohamed said: “For 20 years, Nigeria has not been able to address the vehicle pollution crisis due to the poor fuels we have been importing.

“Today we are taking a huge leap forward – limiting sulphur in fuels from 3,000 parts per million to 50 parts per million.”

Nigeria’s environment minister said the move would result in major air quality benefits.

She said the move would result in major air quality benefits in Nigerian cities and would allow the country to set modern vehicle standards.

The WHO says that pollution is particularly bad in low and middle-income countries.

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