A big fuss about nothing.

In May Canadian company Magma Energy Corp. purchased Geysir Green Energy’s stake in HS Orka, which produces 175 MW of geothermal power and 150 MW of thermal energy. Magma has expansion plans for the near future, which will increase the plant’s power production to 405 MW.

A good thing—we need foreign investments.

But suddenly some members of the Left Green Movement, people who are sitting in our Althingi parliament as part of the majority government, are screaming that foreigners should not be allowed to own a share of Iceland’s natural resources.

Ögmundur Jónasson, Lilja Mósesdóttir and Minister for the Environment Svandís Svavarsdóttir had all winter to speak up in parliament, but they didn’t. Now they scream. That is populism, nothing else.

Everyone in the republic knew that Magma Energy founded a company in Sweden just to be allowed to invest here, so why this fuss now?

On Tuesday, 7,936 kilometers away, Minister for Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphédinsson had a meeting with the Vice-President of China Xi Jinping, discussing cooperation between the two nations regarding investing in and building up geothermal power plants in the Rift Valley in East Africa. A very, very good idea.

But, wait a moment. Can we invest and work in Africa and construct geothermal power plants there with China?

Of course, but we Icelanders are so special that NO one should come to our special country to invest: Iceland is for Icelanders.

I don’t think any other nation has done more for Africa in the past 20 years than China. They come to Africa to do business. Not with pity and bad conscience for how Africa was treated in the past, like the bad conscience European countries have had for the past 50 years, ever since their African colonies became independent.

Talking about Africa… for more than half a century, Iceland has been selling stockfish and dried fish heads to Nigeria. A business now worth more than ISK 9 billion (USD 73 million, EUR 57 million).

Recently I meet an Icelander, now retired, who has been selling stockfish to Nigeria, for the greater part of this half century. He told me that Nigerians are the best people to do business with. Not a single time have his Nigerian business partners cheated him out of money. Not once.

But here it seems to be the national sport.

Or to fight against Magma Energy Corp. and the IMF, the International Monetary Fund. A fund which helped Iceland get back on the right track, economically speaking. It saved us in the autumn of 2008. And will keep us on track in years to come.

It’s frightening how part of the Independence Party and the Left Greens look at Iceland with such strong nationalistic glasses—it’s scary.

They should welcome foreign investment here in Iceland; that is the future. Even in fishing and the energy sector. We have done so much around the globe, why should investment be a one-way street?

We can invest everywhere, buy all the fish in the seven seas, but foreigners cannot come here. Why?

Maybe because we are so special, beautiful and blue-eyed, with the best fish in the world, biggest waterfalls, most spectacular lava fields, and the world’s most elegant trout in our super clean rivers. Not to mention the world’s strongest men.

We have Davíd Oddsson, Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, Sigurdur Einarsson and Ólafur F. Magnússon, the world’s worst politician.

We also have the best meat—Icelandic lamb, the best airport, the grandest glaciers and geysers to die for. The best artists, writers and, of course, the Sagas.

Yes, we are special. Very special.

Páll Stefánsson – ps@icelandreview.com

P.S. FIFA announced a new World Ranking list yesterday. As expected, World Champions Spain tops the list, followed by the Netherlands and Brazil.

Iceland moved up 11 places to number 79, after China with a population of 1.4 billion and before Mozambique, the home of Eusébio, one of greatest football players of all time.

Páll is filling in for Bjarni Brynjólfsson.