Asian-driven resource booms in Africa ; Rethinking the impacts on development

Today's resource boom in Africa, driven by Asian economic growth, offers new opportunities for resource-rich African countries. Contrary to the experience of previous booms, however, most mining profits now accrue to foreign companies, leaving little room for governments to use revenues for pro-poor investments or to mitigate adverse distributional impacts. Taking Zambia as a case study, this paper shows that despite privatization, Dutch disease remains a valid concern and may hamper economic diversification, worsen income distribution, and undermine poverty reduction strategies. Mining royalt... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Breisinger, Clemens
Thurlow, James
| orcid:0000-0003-3414-374X
Dokumenttyp: Discussion paper
Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
Verlag/Hrsg.: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Schlagwörter: AFRICA / ZAMBIA / SOUTHERN AFRICA / AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA / Dutch disease / Resource booms / Privatization / Income distribution
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27412851
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : http://www.ifpri.org/publication/asian-driven-resource-booms-africa

Today's resource boom in Africa, driven by Asian economic growth, offers new opportunities for resource-rich African countries. Contrary to the experience of previous booms, however, most mining profits now accrue to foreign companies, leaving little room for governments to use revenues for pro-poor investments or to mitigate adverse distributional impacts. Taking Zambia as a case study, this paper shows that despite privatization, Dutch disease remains a valid concern and may hamper economic diversification, worsen income distribution, and undermine poverty reduction strategies. Mining royalties must, therefore, be increased and used to finance growth-inducing investments that encourage pro-poor economic diversification, else many African countries will remain caught in a resource trap." -- from Author's Abstract ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; GRP3; Country and regional food, nutrition, and agricultural strategies ; DSGD