Africa Center for Strategic Studies

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]

By Elisabeth Feleke.  Cambria Press, December 2009. Controlling resources is a strategic priority for both African gvernments and armed non-state actors who use these revenues to finance military operations, thereby accelerating resource depletion, environmental degradation, and insecurity. Poor resource management also can strain traditional means for resolving tensions. Effective governance mechanisms to manage resources can not only prevent such insecurity but also utilize Africa’s resource abundance for sustainable development. [more]

"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]

Governance strategies to remedy the natural resource curse, 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 the autocratic governments that often manage 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. Read the article online

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

Chronicle of a Death Foretold: The Collapse of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project. By Scott Pegg. African Affairs, 2009. A clear, concise study of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project - the largest single private sector investment in Africa - which the World Bank and other stakeholders had optimistically hoped would serve as a new model for natural resource management in Africa until the World Bank formally ended its role in the project in September 2008. [HTML]

Governance Strategies to Remedy the Natural Resource Curse. By Joseph Siegle. International Social Science Journal. UNESCO, 2009. Recognizes the strong relationship between autocratic governance and the natural resource curse (especially oil). Remedying the frequently deleterious effects of natural resource wealth, therefore, must necessarily have a governance dimension - to enhance transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to the general population. [HTML]

Rowing Against the Current: The Diversification Challenge in Africa's Resource-Rich Economies. 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]

Promoting Transparency in the African Oil Sector. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2004. A well-written synopsis of U.S. interests in West and Central Africa (governance, regional stability, HIV/AIDS, counterterrorism, economic security, trade), followed by a menu of options for U.S. policy-makers. [PDF]