4. EMMANUEL IGBOKWE


INTRODUCTION 

As a child, I had a fervent prayer and a heartfelt wish; that there would be a miraculous discovery of oil in my village, so as to change my family’s fortunes forever. While this wish was borne out of the innocence of childhood, it was fueled by poverty and a misconception of the capacity of natural resources in generating wealth. Nevertheless, as I grew older, I became aware of the paradoxical reality of oil as a curse for economic prosperity, as well as the environmental effects of extracting oil, and the politically charged chaos surrounding its ownership in my country Nigeria. As a result of this, my prayers changed to being thankful that such a ‘calamity’ had not befallen my home. However, despite these obvious detrimental consequences of such discovery and the absence of any real direct benefit to the owners of the land across the oil producing regions of my country Nigeria, I continue to encounter some people who harbor identical prayers and wishes just like I did as a child, expectantly hoping that the mineral resource would in a similar pipe dream way become beneficial to them.

       The foregoing reflects the recurring theme in most African countries, where there is expectation amongst poor Africans that the gifts of nature would indeed be a gift to them, as ineptitude in governance continue to exacerbate poverty in the continent – one in three Africans is said to be at risk of food insecurity despite the wealth of natural resources across the continent. Hence, this work reflects on this ‘resource curse’ currently plaguing Africa, in the hopes of charting a course towards an Africa where her natural resources will become both valuable and beneficial to Africans. 

Making the African Mineral Resources Sector Beneficial  

       Admittedly, the fact that a continent famed for its rich soil contents, and famously regarded as ‘blessed’ by her people – Africa holds around 30% of the world’s known mineral resources – continues to struggle with poverty and under-development, suggests that her wealth in mineral resources, may in reality be a curse rather than a blessing. In other words, while the problems of illicit financial flows, over exploitation of minerals by foreign corporations, pollution and an overall low-quality investment for sustainability in the extractive sector, culminates in a paradox of plenty in Africa, the challenge is the re-evaluation of government policies and a sector specific change in approach. 

      Towards this goal, there are many ideal solutions, one of which requires the creation of linkages to keep the value of African mineral resources within Africa. For a start, the African Mining Vision – a resolution adopted by the heads of state of African nations in 2009 - champions a similar ideal solution to the continent’s mineral resource problems; advocating an integration of the extractive sector to align with other development policies at the local, national and regional levels in Africa. Thus, an effective application of this goal will ensure that revenues from the extractive sector are reinvested into the optimization of other corresponding sectors of the economy. However, in other to create these linkages with other sectors across all levels of the continental economy, there needs to a maximization of revenue from the extractive sector and an achievement of a broadly utilitarian approach to executing projects with these revenues. And by this, the current condition in the Niger-Delta region in Nigeria, reveals two practical hurdles associated with the achievement of this approach - derivation and accountability. While this work cannot for obvious reasons delve too deeply into these issues, it can only point out that the principle of derivation – recompense for sequestered rights and interests - and accountability, if sorted out, will ensure that the major revenues from the mineral resources sector are reinvested in the economy of the African communities of origin, thus, achieving the required concentration of investments needed to create linkages with the manufacturing, services industries and the technology sectors for further economic development.  

         In a similar vein,  value-addition in the extractive sector can be achieved through social investments. Social investments in this context connotes social schemes aimed at benefiting the host communities of the natural resources, capable of having human development outcomes. The answer social investment presents revolve around making the obviously exhaustible resources, inexhaustible, in the form of human development as repayment to the host-communities. The framework of any such social initiative must be one to create the required synergy between the companies involved, the government and the host-communities. Commonly referred to as ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR), social investment in other to add the required value, must be transformed from mere professional discipline utilized to keep investors happy, into a coherent scheme with legal backing. By having a legal framework guiding the extent of social value-adding activities, the mindset of industry players in the African extractive sector would be transformed from that of an outsider to a stakeholder in the host-communities, this would in effect mirror social programs with measurable social impact. 

Conclusion

   There are enough gloomy tales of Africa’s ‘natural resource curse' to make a book series, nonetheless, in my strong charitable moments, I am still inclined to believe that the problem has reached its turning point. 

       Arguably, the continent is at crossroads in her developmental trajectory, but if strengthened with these reformatory policies – such as the ones mentioned above - capable of endogenously altering the negative trajectory, the African mineral resources sector will produce a catalytic effect on economic development in the continent. Although Africa’s natural resources sector is plagued by a ‘curse’, the solution is not a simple wave of a magic wand, but a gradual process of change in mindset effective in achieving the required development goals. 




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References

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “The State of Food and Nutrition in the World

2021”  The world is at a critical juncture, 2021 https://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition


Al Jazeera “Mapping Africa’s natural resources” Al Jazeera, 20, February, 2018

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2018/2/20/mapping-africas-natural-resources


Gavin Hilson “The Africa Mining Vision: a manifesto for more inclusive extractive industry-led

developmentCanadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue canadienne d’études du développement, 41:3, 417-431,

DOI: 10.1080/02255189.2020.1821352- 2020


Akinola, Samson   “Derivation Principle Dilemma and National (Dis)Unity in Nigeria: A Polycentric

Planning Perspective on the Niger Delta” 10.5539/jsd.v4n5p251 Journal of Sustainable

Development – 29, September, 2011


 Latapí Agudelo, M.A., Jóhannsdóttir, L. & Davídsdóttir, B.  “A literature review of the history and

evolution of corporate social responsibility.”  International Journal Corporate Social Responsibility

4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-018-0039-y - 2019

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