摘要：The human race has exerted inordinate pressures on the Earth’s natural resources since the onset of industrialization. Unfortunately Africa has been the last to join this industrialization race as much of the continent remains rural and largely underdeveloped. As with everywhere else around the world, essential development in Africa is heavily dependent on availability of oil for energy. However, utilization of the resource as an energy source has been heavily contested as while the oil industry is the backbone of many economies, oil extraction has proved to be detrimental to the environment and society. The study explored models that countries have adopted in order to inhibit the utilization of oil as an energy source and to encourage the efficient development of renewable energy sources. Countries such as Malaysia have reduced oil subsidies while the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is planning on introducing Carbon Emission Tax in 2016. Additionally, the study sought to examine the disparity of the effects that a drop in oil price made to stakeholders with varying degrees of purchasing power (i.e., low income individuals to large organizations). The study also analyzed the varying degrees of purchasing power that the oil price reduction gave to end users. Historical data, during the bull and bear oil markets, was used to analyze the effect that oil price fluctuations had on corporate social responsibility initiatives. Oil companies have multifarious corporate social responsibility initiatives that are designed to promote social and environmental sustainability, additional to rehabilitation. Conclusions were drawn against observations that the fall in oil prices from June 2014 had varying effects on the economies of oilexporting and oil-importing countries and other stakeholders. These effects ranged from lowering of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of OPEC countries like Nigeria and a concomitant increase in fiscal space for oil importing countries. The paper also critiqued on the profits gained from extracting and selling oil, where these did not sufficiently justify the exploitation of the environment at a time when alternative viable renewable energy sources that will facilitate the preservation of natural resources for future generations.
