Toward a Coordinated Approach to Natural Resource Management in Africa

Abstract

Natural resource endowments can spur development in African countries, if managed appropriately. That said, resource exploitation does not automatically translate into meaningful development. Indeed, poor growth rates, high inequality, social exclusion, impoverishment, poor governance, environmental concerns, social tensions, and civil strife characterize many resource-rich countries across Africa and in the developing world (Collier 2007). These challenges have led to predictions of “natural resource curse” or “paradox of plenty” (Humphreys et al. 2007; Barma et al. 2012). Yet, while challenges to the effective management of natural resources—the so-called resource curse—are widely known, there exist critiques, theories, and models, some of which are subsets to, or overlap with, the resource curse while others are separate theories altogether (Humphreys et al. 2007; Obi 2010; Arthur 2012) that question the validity and accuracy of resource curse theorists. Humphreys et al. (2007) question the resource curse argument, because for them there is considerable room for human agency to correct the risks posed by the “paradox of plenty.” For Africa more specifically, it has been demonstrated that the resource curse paradigm hides the larger question of how institutions and their transformation affect growth (Jones 2008). Other authors also insist that contextual variables encompassing the national level must be taken into account in explaining why natural resources are sometimes detrimental to the development of a country (Basedau 2005).