Energy producers in sub-Saharan Africa: beyond the gatekeeper state?

Abstract

This article examines how gatekeeper states develop by comparing Nigeria, an archetypal gatekeeper state, with Chad, a more recent oil producer. It considers what emerging producers may learn from established ones, to thereby avoid the resource curse and thus move beyond the limitations of the gatekeeper state. Gatekeeping might be mitigated by transparency and governance initiatives promoted by International Financial Institutions, Western governments, civil society organisations, and even emerging producer governments themselves. But established gatekeeper states are also likely to endure and to emerge among new producers. Thus, the gatekeeper state concept, and its utility in analysing resource-rich states, endures.