Ferdinand Omondi - Water, Minerals & War!

What happens when climate change becomes a hidden driver of conflict and war across Africa? In this episode, Waweru Njoroge and Ndu Okoh speak with Ferdinand Omondi, Communications and Story Manager for Anglophone Africa at Greenpeace Africa and an investigative journalist covering environmental and resource issues across the continent from BBC, KTN, NTV, on how drought, land degradation, and water scarcity are fuelling instability from Kenya and the Horn of Africa to the Sahel and West Africa. From pastoral conflicts in northern Kenya to displacement crises in Sudan, the conversation explores how environmental and climate stress is becoming an unseen security threat. Tensions over water resources, including the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, illustrate how climate pressure and infrastructure projects can escalate into geopolitical confrontation. Omondi also warns that weak governance and corruption are enabling destructive extraction while communities bear the costs. As global demand surges for cobalt, lithium, and other critical minerals, Africa faces the risks of a new scramble driven by external powers, including China’s expanding role in destructive mining and infrastructure across the continent. A hard-hitting conversation on climate security, resource politics, foreign influence, and Africa’s fight to control its future. Panel 54 — A global perspective through an African lens. Lagos to Lamu. Cape Town to Cairo. This is Panel 54, a global perspective through an African lens. ▶️ Subscribe : https://linktr.ee/panel54pod 📩 Contact: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ 🎙 Recorded in Nairobi, Kenya 🎧 Produced by Commex Africa and E & C Talent