Eco-protesters, dressed in high-visibility jackets, disrupted the Africa Energies summit, using ladders to climb to the top of the entrance to the £350 May Fair Hotel at night before unfurling a banner reading ‘End Oil Colonialism’. Video shared online shows a group lying inside the building and shouting the same phrase, while others hold banners outside with the words “Justice for Africa”.

The conference is sponsored by oil giants such as Shell, Total, Perenco and Schlumberger, which, according to Extinction Rebellion, “all posted record earnings for the last quarter as consumer fuel prices soar and the Prime Minister Boris Johnson warns of cost of living crisis. will get worse.”

The group added that Africa has 39% of the world’s total renewable energy potential, “by far the largest share of any continent”, but combined with the Middle East receives only 2% of annual investment in renewable energies.

A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said: “On Tuesday May 17, a coalition of groups including Extinction Rebellion Africa, Sustaining the Wild Coast, StopEACOP, Africans Rising, The Green Connection, Oceans Not Oil, Jubilee for Climate, 350. org and Greenpeace disrupted the Africa Energy Summit, a high-level conference attended by African oil executives and heads of state, who will also meet for “high-level networking.”

“Three people had access to the conference room of the 5-star May Fair hotel in London which hosts the Africa Energies summit, billed as the ‘must-attend conference for the African energy industry’.

“They hung banners saying ‘End Oil Colonialism’ and ‘Justice for Africa’ from the porch and lobby of the £351-a-night hotel, blocking delegates’ entrances and disrupting proceedings with audio recordings of the protests by African activists over new oil deals.

“Several of the protesters gained access to the conference room itself inside the 5-star May Fair Hotel, London. Others used loudspeakers to play voice recordings of people from Africa South, Namibia, Nigeria, DRC and Uganda explaining how oil projects destroy rather than benefit their communities.”

The Metropolitan Police cordoned off the area around the hotel entrance.

The force said some protesters stuck together inside the building with police ‘detachment teams’ now trying to peel them apart following a recent ban on protesters sticking together on the roads with the threat of a prison sentence.

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The hotel, located close to Buckingham Palace in the capital, hosts the annual Africa E&P summit and exhibition.

The event’s website says the event aims to “bring together Africa’s upstream industry for a unique event designed for companies active in the oil and energy game in Africa.”

Is it planned to attend representatives of 12 African governments.

Speakers include Somali Resources Minister Mohamed Hashi Arabey Abdi and Africa Oil Corp Chairman and CEO Keith Hill, as well as representatives from oil giant Shell.

Extinction Rebellion Sheffield had previously taken to Twitter to announce today’s protest.

The group wrote on its website: “A coalition of environmental groups including XR Sheffield and XRY Sheffield are disrupting the entrance to the Africa Energies Summit at the Mayfair Hotel.

“Activists place a banner ‘END OIL COLONIALISM’ at the entrance of the hotel.”