British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pledge to end investment in African coal projects was overshadowed on Monday after it emerged that it had been UK policy for eight years.
Mr Johnson told African political and business leaders in London that the UK’s “sustainable, forward-thinking” policies set it apart from other countries seeking to invest in the continent’s fast-growing economies.
In a speech, Mr Johnson told African leaders that “from today” the UK would not invest in promoting coal mining or power plants overseas.
“To put it simply, not another penny of UK taxpayers’ money will be directly invested in digging up coal or burning it for electricity,” he said.
UK officials said on Monday that the UK had not funded coal-fired power generation or mining in Africa since at least 2012, although there might have been "ongoing funding" from previous projects.
An earlier government led by David Cameron ended funding for coal-powered projects overseas except for countries where no other “economically feasible alternative” was in place.
Former energy secretary Ed Davey said in 2013 that it was “completely illogical” to cut harmful emissions while “paying for coal-fired power plants to be built in other countries”.
Andrew Scott, director of climate and energy at the Overseas Development Institute think tank, said that UK investment in one or two legacy projects was an insignificant part of the £4.6 billion invested in African fossil fuel – mainly oil and gas – between 2010 and 2017.
“I would be more excited by an announcement on investing in renewables in Africa," Mr Scott said.
"The government has announced some but they’re relatively small scale."
The UK-Africa Investment Summit on Monday was the largest of its kind organised by the British government as it seeks to expand global trading and investment opportunities after it leaves the EU on January 31.
One of the key areas discussed was the development of clean energy, which is a major theme for Africa where hundreds of millions of people remain without power.
Lucy Heintz, a partner at energy investor Actis, said investment of £1.3bn a day was needed to bring power to 840 million people.
Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
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Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
Jebel Ali Dragons 26 Bahrain 23
Dragons
Tries: Hayes, Richards, Cooper
Cons: Love
Pens: Love 3
Bahrain
Tries: Kenny, Crombie, Tantoh
Cons: Phillips
Pens: Phillips 2
Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
Honeymoonish
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Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
