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The politics of governing oil effectively: A comparative study of two new oil-rich states in Africa

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  • Sam Hickey
  • Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai
  • Angelo Izama
  • Giles Mohan

Abstract

The challenges facing developing countries with new-found natural resource wealth are generally understood in terms of whether they have the institutions of ‘good governance’ required to avoid the resource curse. New insights from a political settlements perspective show how deeper forms of politics and power relations play a more significant role than such institutions, and help explain some counter-intuitive findings regarding how ‘semi-authoritarian’ Uganda seems to be governing oil somewhat more in line with its national interest as compared to ‘democratic’ Ghana. We find that bureaucratic ‘pockets of effectiveness’ play a critical role, with outcomes shaped by the nature of their embedded autonomy vis-à-vis different kinds of ruling coalition. Efforts to promote ‘best-practice’ governance reforms in such contexts might be misplaced, and could be replaced with a stronger focus on building specific forms of state capacity and a greater acceptance that ‘developmental collusion’ between political and bureaucratic actors may offer more appropriate or ‘best-fit’ solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Sam Hickey & Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai & Angelo Izama & Giles Mohan, 2015. "The politics of governing oil effectively: A comparative study of two new oil-rich states in Africa," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-054-15, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:esid-054-15
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Joanna Buckley & Neil McCulloch & Nick Travis, 2017. "Donor-supported approaches to improving extractives governance: Lessons from Nigeria and Ghana," WIDER Working Paper Series 033, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Joanna Buckley & Neil McCulloch & Nick Travis, 2017. "Donor-supported approaches to improving extractives governance: Lessons from Nigeria and Ghana," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-33, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2017. "Competitive clientelism and the political economy of mining in Ghana," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-078-17, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    4. Michael Ehis Odijie & Mohammed Zayan Imoro, 2021. "Ghana’s Competitive Clientelism and Space for Long-Term Stable Policies," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    5. Arhin, Gerald Emmanuel, 2024. "Investigating the differential politics of competitive bidding in Ghana’s hydrocarbon and mining industries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    6. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai & Giles Mohan, 2019. "The politics of bureaucratic ‘pockets of effectiveness’ - Insights from Ghana’s Ministry of Finance," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-119-19, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    7. Harris, Adam S. & Sigman, Rachel & Meyer-Sahling, Jan-Hinrik & Mikkelsen, Kim Sass & Schuster, Christian, 2020. "Oiling the bureaucracy? political spending, bureaucrats and the resource curse," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    8. Adebayo, Eric & Lashitew, Addisu A. & Werker, Eric, 2021. "Is conventional wisdom about resource taxation correct? Mining evidence from transparency reporting," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).

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