The weak link

The role of local institutions in accountable natural resource management in Peru, Senegal, Ghana and Tanzania

Extractive industries present potentially large opportunities for developing countries. In 2012, for example the total rents from extractive industries in developing countries were estimated to be worth just under five times the total value of global aid flows for the same year. However, translating these resources into revenues, and then translating those revenues into development outcomes is not straightforward.

While the pros and cons of the different policy options for managing revenues from extractive industries are reasonably well known, advocates for responsible natural resource management are often frustrated by the fact that best-practice policy prescriptions are ignored by governments in developing counties. As a result there has been a growing effort to understand how policy decisions are made, and how political and economic incentives shape development outcomes.

In this vein, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Oxfam has produced a detailed study of the political economy of decision making, looking specifically at how countries determine revenue sharing agreements, as well as how those revenues that are captured and get allocated within the country.

The research was conducted in four countries: Peru, Senegal, Ghana and Tanzania. From these four context insights have been drawn about the processes shaping natural resource revenue management. You can find the reports for each of the countries below (Tanzania report, forthcoming), as well the synthesis of the findings. Related documents and materials can also be found in the download links.

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Author

Oxfam

Publication date

April 15, 2016

Publication type

Research