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E-book Oil Wealth and Development in Uganda and Beyond : Prospects, Opportunities, and Challenges
With an increasing number of African countries having discovered com-mercially viable quantities of oil and gas in recent years, including, for example, Kenya, Chad, Ghana and Uganda, there is both excitement and trepidation about the prospects for increased incomes and investments, economic growth and development on the continent. This is due to compara-tive historical evidence of the link between natural resource exploitation, economic growth and development on the one hand and natural resource exploitation, economic decline and socio-political crises on the other hand (see, for example, Ross, 2003; 2012; Sachs and Warner, 2001; Torres, Afonso and Soares, 2012). Indeed, a substantial body of empirical studies has shown that many countries ‘ blessed’ with natural resources have paradoxically faced economic decline and severe socio-political crises (see, for example, Mehlum, Moene and Torvik, 2006; Ross, 2012; Sachs and Warner, 1995).The observation that countries rich in oil, gas or other minerals often end up facing serious economic, social and political challenges rather than economic progress and political stability has led some scholars to claim that these countries experienced a so-called ‘resource curse’ (see, for example, Ross, 2012; Sachs and Warner, 2001). More specifically, the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) refers to the resource curse as ‘the failure of many resource-rich countries to benefit fully from their natural resource wealth, and for governments in these countries to respond effectively to public welfare needs’ (NRGI, 2015, p.1). It is noteworthy that many developing countries seem to be plagued by the resource curse. As noted by Arthur (2014, p.39) in this respect, ‘... there is increasing evidence that extractive natural resources have not helped developing countries, especially those in Africa, to achieve prosperity and their desired socioeconomic ends’ (see also Obi, 2010a). In Africa, Nigeria and D.R. Congo are often seen as prominent examples of countries where the resource curse has manifested itself. To illustrate this point, Sala-i-Martin and Subramanian (2012) posit that despite earning more than US$ 350 billion in cumulative oil revenues between 1965 and 2000, Nigeria’s GDP per capita did not improve over this period. Instead the country has been plagued by endemic corruption, institutional failure and violent conflicts (see Ukiwo, 2008, 2011; Obi, 2010b).
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