Reframing the politics of natural resource governance in Africa: Insights from the local content legislation process in Ghana

Abstract

AbstractNew oil‐producing countries in Sub‐Saharan Africa have moved rapidly to adopt local content legislation to ensure that locally owned firms benefit from natural resource finds. Current research into this move frames local content development in Africa as existing on a continuum between elite projects to accumulate rents and build a domestic capitalist class. This article problematizes such accounts through an in‐depth case study of Ghana. By deploying an adapted “political settlements” framework that incorporates the role of ideas as well as transnational agency, we show that elite commitment to local content reforms is driven by the broader politics of regime survival and paradigmatic ideas rather than political economy factors alone.Related ArticlesAnuar, Amalina, and Aninda Dewayanti. 2021. “Trust in the Process: Renewable Energy Governance in Malaysia and Indonesia.” Politics & Policy 49(3): 740–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12409Khodr, Hiba, and Isabella Ruble. 2013. “Energy Policies and Domestic Politics in the MENA Region in the Aftermath of the Arab Upheavals: The Cases of Lebanon, Libya, and KSA.” Politics & Policy 41(5): 656–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12033Osman, Antwi‐Boateng, and Mamudu Abunga Akudugu. 2020. “Golden Migrants: The Rise and Impact of Illegal Chinese Small‐Scale Mining in Ghana.” Politics & Policy 48(1): 135–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12342