Reversing the resource curse: Advancing good natural resource governance for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Southern Africa

The report examines the 'resource curse' in Southern Africa, specifically regarding LNG projects in Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. It highlights a gap between Africa's significant gas discoveries—accounting for nearly 40% of global discoveries in the last decade—and actual production due to socio-political instability. The document argues that without structural democratic reform and meaningful community consultation, resource wealth fails to translate into broad-based development, as seen in Angola. It recommends that governments and investors prioritize 'Free, Prior, Informed and Continuous Consent' and align mining projects with the Africa Mining Vision and SADC Protocol on Energy to avoid conflict and environmental degradation.

• Africa has been a major site for natural gas discoveries, accounting for nearly 40% of new global discoveries between 2010 and 2020, primarily in Tanzania, Senegal, Mauritania, and Mozambique. However, production is hindered by security issues and socio-political instability, which create a "gap between the potential and the actual gas production projects under development."
• The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region faces significant energy poverty, with only 50% of residents having electricity access and only 32% of rural residents with energy access. Investment is limited by factors such as "lack of funding, slow migration to cost-reflective tariffs, inadequate project preparation, challenges with Power Purchase Agreements, and absent regulatory frameworks."
• Abundant natural resource wealth does not automatically lead to economic development without structural democratic reform. Angola serves as a warning, where the petroleum industry provides almost 75% of revenues, yet the country is characterized by "chronic poverty and inequality" and ranked 148 on the 2019 Human Development index.
• LNG development has contributed to conflict in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado, where the insurgency is fueled by "pushback against exclusion" and a lack of attention to the socio-economic needs of local communities.
• Community consultation processes in South Africa and Zimbabwe have often been "top-down, tokenistic, tick-box" exercises. In the South African Shell case, research indicated that only monarchs were consulted, while regular community members were ignored, leading to an "unconstitutional approach".
• To avert the resource curse, the report recommends that African governments implement the Africa Mining Vision (AMV), Agenda 2063, and the SADC Protocol on Energy (1996). It emphasizes the need for "binding legal frameworks and mineral extraction legislation with deterrent consequences" to protect public institutions from political interference.

APA

Mashingaidze, S., & Buchanan-Clarke, S. (n.d.). Reversing the resource curse: Advancing good natural resource governance for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Southern Africa. Good Governance Africa. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2024/02/Reversing-the-resource-curse-IR.pdf

Chicago

Mashingaidze, Sikhululekile, and Stephen Buchanan-Clarke. Reversing the resource curse: Advancing good natural resource governance for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Southern Africa. Good Governance Africa, n.d. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2024/02/Reversing-the-resource-curse-IR.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mashingaidze |first1=Sikhululekile |last2=Buchanan-Clarke |first2=Stephen |title=Reversing the resource curse: Advancing good natural resource governance for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Southern Africa |publisher=Good Governance Africa |url=https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2024/02/Reversing-the-resource-curse-IR.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mashingaidzendreversing, author = {Mashingaidze, Sikhululekile and Buchanan-Clarke, Stephen}, title = {{Reversing the resource curse: Advancing good natural resource governance for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Southern Africa}}, institution = {Good Governance Africa}, url = {https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2024/02/Reversing-the-resource-curse-IR.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }