Author Archive

Traditionally considered a curse for a nation‘s development, commodity wealth in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) could – on the contrary – represent a foundation for prosperity, according to a new report released today by the World Bank.The increased demand for minerals and agricultural commodities from Asian markets, especially […]

Natural and agricultural resources for which there is a substantial black market, such as coca, opium, and diamonds, appear especially likely to be exploited by the parties to a civil conflict. On the other hand, these resources may also provide one of the few reliable sources of income in the […]

Growth studies show, counter to intuition, that the discovery of a natural resource may be a curse rather than a blessing since resource-rich countries grow slower than others. But it has been suggested that Norway may be an important exception to the curse and that the curse does not afflict […]

Significant gaps in the data published by the Angolan government about its earnings from the oil industry undermine its attempts to shed a reputation for corruption, says this new study by Global Witness and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa – Angola (OSISA-Angola). [issuu layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml showflipbtn=true documentid=110510123720-5d50a386a34d413cad3679b07873e496 docname=global_witness_osisa_angola_oil_revenues_in_angola username=FutureChallenges […]

Chad is a poor, undemocratic and conflict-ridden country. The promise had been that oil exploitation in the Doba basin, in the south of the country, would bring about a bright future and would finally lift the entire nation out of poverty. Almost ten years after the official opening of the […]