The Energy Collective: Natural Gas Production in East Africa - An Inevitable Resource Curse?

East African nations such as Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya are experiencing a boom in oil and natural gas production that is increasingly exported by Western production companies to meet growing global demand. While these activities may appear to be an economic boon to these countries, the problem is that they could potentially cause natural gas to be a “resource curse” for these developing nations. A resource curse, or a “paradox of plenty,” can occur when the extraction of natural resources like fossil fuels and minerals in resource-rich countries contributes to slower economic growth than countries that are less abundant in these same natural resources. This effect could be mitigated if the government takes proactive steps to grow the rest of the economy, facilitate skills transfer, and combat corruption.

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