Is the resource curse hard-baked into African economies? China's approach hints that it may not be

By Daniel Ofoe Chachu, Research Fellow, Institute of Political Science (Political Economy and Development Group), University of Zurich
Edward Nketiah-Amponsah, Associate Professor, Department of Economics , University of Ghana

Countries with abundant natural resources – gold, diamonds, crude oil– often fail to transform that advantage into favourable development outcomes. This is known as the natural resource curse. Countries like Nigeria, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo are often cited as examples.

Several explanations have been offered for the resource course. These include the lack of government accountability usually…

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