Natural Resources Management in g7+ Countries
One of the biggest challenges that fragile states face is in mobilising the resources required to adequately invest in their development. The natural resource sector in fragile states is critical to such resource mobilisation efforts, as if properly managed such natural resources can provide an important long-term stream of independent finance.
This booklet is the result of a request made at the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the g7+, which took place in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in November 2012. At that meeting, Professor Paul Collier delivered a paper on natural resources in fragile states, entitled ‘Small Countries, Big Resources’. g7+ ministers requested that the g7+ secretariat facilitate greater peer learning between g7+ countries on the subject of Natural Resource Management, and a technical team was formed to deliver this report.
Progress in implementing the New Deal
The ongoing work has subsequently been discussed at g7+ technical meetings in Addis Ababa (July 2013) and Kinshasa (November 2013), where further direction was provided to the technical team. The final report was presented to the Third g7+ Ministerial Meeting in May 2014, in Lome, Togo.
This booklet offers an overview of natural resource management in all g7+ countries. It provides key information on the known natural resources in each country, the main extractive industries, the legal and fiscal frameworks in place for managing natural resources and issues related to governance and transparency. The booklet forms part of an emerging g7+ research program. It is designed to be a practical source of knowledge-sharing on extractives, and will be continuously updated and developed over time.
The booklet is structured as follows: ‘Fast facts’ presents some of the most noteworthy facts and figures about natural resources in fragile states. ‘Key country data’ pulls together in one table information on natural resources and revenues from each of the 18 g7+ countries. ‘Emerging lessons, shared challenges and opportunities’ draws together some of the emerging themes from the country profiles, linking natural resources to the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States and the New Deal’s five Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Goals. The chapter then uses the ‘Natural Resource Charter’ to structure an exploration of common challenges, opportunities and useful examples from the country profiles. The rest of the booklet then presents the 18 individual country profiles in alphabetical order.
A note on methodology:
The country profiles have been generated through a combination of desk research to survey publically available secondary sources, information provided by Government sources, as well as conversations with civil society organisations, World Bank offices and other in- country experts. Research was conducted throughout 2013, and consequently certain information may be somewhat outdated. Data was often unavailable or of poor quality, and some g7+ countries have smaller extractives industries than others. As a result some of the profiles are relatively brief. In instances where figures were found to be conflicting the authors have either reconciled them or indicated the inconsistency.