Africa Center for Strategic Studies

By Muna A Abdalla. Institute for Security Studies, August 2009.

Migration, extractive industry investments, and disputes over land tenure have for decades complicated dynamics within Tuareg communities and their relations with governments in the Sahel. As this region undergoes immense changes and many Tuaregs once again move across borders, previous conflicts may reemerge. However, new initiatives that integrate Tuareg concerns over land and livelihood opportunities through inclusive political engagement can overcome these recurring regional conflict drivers.  [PDF]

By Ruben de Koning. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, June 2011.

Unless authorities re-establish administrative control over mines, competition between armed groups and wayward military units over access to lucrative minerals will continue to destabilize the DRC. Fortunately, new schemes to formalize, regulate, and trace mineral products are improving the prospects to do so. This will be contingent, however, on other governance enhancements, including security sector reform.

Download the Paper: [PDF]

By Peter Kagwanja. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2007. Disputes over the Nile River have at times prompted bellicose diplomatic exchanges since its management is a vital strategic interest for the 10 mainly arid countries that use its water to irrigate crops, power hydroelectric dams, and sustain growing populations. Work by the East African Community has fostered confidence in collaboration between states and AU action plans provide successful models to avoid disputes and promote cooperation elsewhere. [PDF]

"Chapter 8: From Greed to Grievance: Natural Resources and Conflict in Africa" in African Environmental and Human Security in the 21st Century.  By Elisabeth Feleke.  Cambria Press, December 2009. Resource endowments have played a prominent role in numerous African conflicts. Controlling these resources is a strategic priority for both gvernments as well as armed non-state actors who use these revenues to finance their military operations thereby exacerbating and prolonging conflict. Poor resource management can strain traditional mechanisms for resolving tensions and conflict accelerates resource depletion, creating a cycle of environmental degradation and insecurity. Cooperative governance mechanisms to manage resources, such as the Nile Basin Initiative, can not only prevent insecurity but utilize Africa's resource abundance as a means of sustainable development. [PDF]

Chronicle of a Death Foretold: The Collapse of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project. By Scott Pegg. African Affairs, 2009. The Chad-Cameroon pipeline was a novel World Bank-sponsored consortium intended to generate a revenue windfall and ensure it was spent responsibly. In September 2008 the World Bank ended its role after Chad diverted oil revenues. Rather than breaking the “resource curse,” the pipeline is now cited as another cautionary example of how improper resource management subverts development and stability.   Read the article online

By Joseph Siegle. International Social Science Journal. UNESCO, 2009.

The seemingly paradoxical outcome of resource-rich countries being development-poor is, in fact, quite predictable given that autocratic governments  often rule  resource-rich states. Addressing the resource curse requires changing the incentives facing political leaders so that they are rewarded for transparency and confront robust international legal penalties when they do not. [HTML]

By John Page. The Brookings Institute, 2008. Thoughtful analysis that examines remedies to the resource-curse from an economic perspective - in particular how to overcome the economic and political distortions created from a single, commodity-dependent economy. [HTML]