MSNBC cited Uganda as a prime market for solar cell phones in an article last week: “Just eight percent of the country’s 32 million plus population have electric grid access. Even when the grid is there, like where Mawa lives in Mulago, a poor suburb of Kampala, the power is costly and the service is intermittent.” So far Nokia, Samsung, and a few others have ventured to make these phones readily available to developing nations, but it’s safe to say that many more companies will be looking to capitalize on the opportunity in the near term. 

[image via Oracio Alvarado]

Ten African nations, including South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, will be discussing the best ways forward for the continent in a summit this week. They will also be making waves by chiming in on the debate, asking western nations to cut down emissions by 2012 according to BBC news.

If the African continent can be subsidized to use clean burning fuels and sustainable energy, it will improve both the economic well-being of the continent as a whole, and by extension it will improve the global effort to combat global warming.

It think it’s up to western nations and the private sector to prop up these countries with money for research, investment, and implementation of a green infrastructure. If sustainable sources of energy can be harnessed in the developing world, it would not only benefit the planet, but serve as evidence that this model can be successfully adopted on a grand scale.

[image via epcp]

But despite the success and potential flood of revenue to stockholders, the win marks a bittersweet reality of the budding green-age: Petrol power is here to stay.

While Tullow may represent a relatively new player in the oil industry, it is estimated that nearly 700 million barrels of oil could be produced through its wells in the Lake Albert area. Add this to a report in the Economist noting the potential from further exploration, and “the figure could eventually reach billions of barrels. Some speculate that, Congo included, the entire Albertine basin may yield even more than Sudan’s 6 billion barrels of proven reserves.”

And though globally there has been a decided shift away from fossil fuels, much of that remains a function of availability and price – not environmental concerns. Which is to say, that the potential production of Tullow’s sites may have global political implications, as an alternative to the Middle East’s current dominance of the oil market.

Furthermore, the revenue generated for Uganda - one of Africa’s many struggling nations – by Tullow’s purchasing of land rights, could lead to more economic flexibility and prosperity. Uganda will also have access to the new oil, a fact which “could put an end to persistent blackouts and boost local manufacturing, which has withered on unreliable and exorbitantly priced electricity.”

Still, whatever optimism may abound concerning this new source of oil must be tempered with caution. Energy regulators must ensure that the small African nation gets a fair share of whatever is produced and collectively we can’t allow the promise of new resources to dissuade us from moving ahead with cleaner energy solutions.