Oil and Regional Development in Chad: Assessment of the Impact of the Doba Oil Project on Poverty in the Host Region

Abstract

International audienc

Impacts of the oil boom on the lives of people living in the Albertine Graben region of Uganda

“…Resource extraction projects are typically associated with a large influx of job-seeking migrants into the resource area (IFC, 2009;Aristide and Moundigbaye, 2017). Such population growth frequently leads to new types of poverty and other social problems, such as alcohol abuse and prostitution (Vanclay, 2002;Pegg, 2006;Vanclay et al, 2015;Hansen et al, 2016;Esteves et al, 2017).…”

“…Oil discoveries in other African countries have created a mixture of optimism and pessimismwith the discovery of oil in Chad, for example, being heralded by its leaders and development partners in the 1990s "as a unique opportunity to generate resources to spend on poverty reduction activities" (Aristide and Moundigbaye, 2017:42). However, as time went by, few tangible benefits for local peoples in Chad have actually emerged (Aristide and Moundigbaye, 2017).…”

“…The discovery of oil resources in Uganda has also raised hopes and expectations that the enormous revenues expected to accrue 'would make poverty history' (Bainomugisha et al, 2006). As was the case with oil discovery in Chad, many people believed the discovery of oil would change their lives, while others thought nothing much would change (Aristide and Moundigbaye, 2017). With the substantial revenues likely to be generated, oil could transform Uganda to help it escape extreme poverty (Mosbacher, 2013;Shepherd, 2013).…”

“…Where transparency, the rule of law, and adequate oversight of public and private sector actors is lacking, oil tends to be associated with resource curse issues such as corruption, instability, and economic underperformance, rather than with positive and inclusive development (Auty, 1993;Basedau and Lay, 2009;International Alert, 2009; van der Ploeg, 2011; Global Witness, 2013; Dietsche, 2014; Gilberthorpe and Papyrakis, 2015;Ross, 2015;Sturesson and Zobel, 2015;Goumandakoye, 2016;Palazuelos, 2016). Many studies have documented how oil exploitation is associated with negative social and environmental impacts (Eggert, 2001;Söderholm and Svahn, 2015;Aristide and Moundigbaye, 2017).…”

Rent-Seeking Practices, Local Resource Curse, and Social Conflict in Uganda’s Emerging Oil Economy

“…However, the discovery of oil has also come with negative consequences for local people, including rent seeking, social conflict, and a local resource curse, which is similar to the experiences of other oil-producing countries [3,7,[9][10][11][12]. Many scholars have identified that oil tends to be associated with resource curse issues, including corruption, instability, and economic underperformance [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”