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2 - Political Geography of Natural Resources in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2012

Abiodun Alao
Affiliation:
King's College, University of London
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Summary

The Ecology of Natural Resources: This country has all it needs to make it self-sufficient: rich land for agriculture, mineral resources for export; enlightened population; you name it, we've got it. God has blessed us more than many other nations. All we only need to do is to get our acts together.

A Liberian Civil Society Activist

The world's response [to Africa] has been weakened by uncertainty about the nature of the crisis. Is it economic; poor countries unable to make their way in a wicked world? Political: corrupt regimes wracked by civil wars incapable of responding to the most basic needs of their citizens? Environmental: too many people chopping down too many trees, over-farming and over-grazing pastures and causing massive ecological degradation? Climatic: shifting weather systems triggering shifting sands?

Fred Pearce

In discussing conflicts over natural resources in Africa, we need to investigate the role geography plays in the whole equation. This is particularly important because the continent's geographical attributes and limitations serve to explain the causes and manifestations of some of the conflicts. Furthermore, fundamental questions such as whether the continent's natural resource endowments are sufficient for its needs, and whether there are specific geographical features that predispose Africa to natural resource conflicts beyond the crucial issue of governance identified as the key issue in this book, need to be properly investigated. Consequently, in this chapter I look at the political geography of Africa, identifying, among other things, which country has what, in what quality and of what quantity.

Type
Chapter
Information
Natural Resources and Conflict in Africa
The Tragedy of Endowment
, pp. 41 - 62
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2007

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