SEMINAR REPORT The Role of Resources in Africa’s future: Towards a vision for the governance of Africa’s natural resources

The report details a seminar on the governance of Africa's natural resources, focusing on oil, mining, and renewable resources. It highlights the critical role of transparency, accountability, and the need for home-grown African solutions to avoid the 'resource curse'. Key discussions include the benefits and challenges of state-owned oil companies, the impact of resource extraction on local communities, and the complexities of trans-boundary resource management. The document emphasizes that while initiatives like the EITI are positive, broader societal changes and stronger parliamentary oversight are necessary to ensure resources lead to poverty eradication and sustainable development.

• State-owned oil companies can drive national development and economic diversification, as seen with Angola's Sonangol, which operates across four continents and has diversified into telecoms, air transport, and cleaning services, despite criticisms regarding transparency.
• In Ghana's oil sector, there is a critical need to manage local community expectations because exports typically do not translate into local growth within the first 5-10 years of production, which can lead to discontent.
• The independence of South Sudan has strained relations with Sudan due to disagreements over oil export fees, with Sudan demanding $36/barrel for use of its ports compared to the international norm of $1/barrel.
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo's forestry sector contributes only 1% to the national GDP despite 67% forest cover, hampered by corruption, a cumbersome tax regime, and illegal timber trade.
• Uganda's fisheries sector faces pressures from overfishing and a lack of monitoring capacity, although the absence of industrial fishing has helped create local employment.
• Mining in Zimbabwe's Manicaland Province is characterized by poor governance and corruption due to the use of outdated colonial laws, leading to forced removals and environmental pollution for local communities.
• The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is recognized as a positive step toward international norms, but participants argued it is insufficient on its own and must move beyond a limited focus on payments and revenues.

APA

Gqada, I., Amumpiire, A., & du Preez, M.-L. (2012). SEMINAR REPORT The Role of Resources in Africa’s future: Towards a vision for the governance of Africa’s natural resources. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/The-Role-of-Resources-in-Africas-future.pdf

Chicago

Gqada, Ichumile, Anna Amumpiire, and Mari-Lise du Preez. SEMINAR REPORT The Role of Resources in Africa’s future: Towards a vision for the governance of Africa’s natural resources. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2012. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/The-Role-of-Resources-in-Africas-future.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gqada |first1=Ichumile |last2=Amumpiire |first2=Anna |last3=du Preez |first3=Mari-Lise |title=SEMINAR REPORT The Role of Resources in Africa’s future: Towards a vision for the governance of Africa’s natural resources |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=13 March 2012 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/The-Role-of-Resources-in-Africas-future.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gqada2012seminar, author = {Gqada, Ichumile and Amumpiire, Anna and du Preez, Mari-Lise}, title = {{SEMINAR REPORT The Role of Resources in Africa’s future: Towards a vision for the governance of Africa’s natural resources}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2012}, month = mar, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/The-Role-of-Resources-in-Africas-future.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }