Some great points here on how unambitious elite capture is probably the worst kind. And doesn't the continent offer up such a wide spectrum of elite capture, with perhaps RFPs Crystal Ventures at the opposite end?
Is there a plausible what-if in which things would have gone differently?
A dynastic dictator got the opportunity to get far richer thanks to a new wealth source and he took it. Foreign companies had to pay bribes and give up part of ownership to get contracts and looks like they are not making great profits if they are exiting the market. I'm sure they also would prefer to not pay for expat enclaves but they have to if they want to bring the foreign specialists they need and they need them due to weak local human capital.
This is a very good example of extractive institutions as mentioned in excellent book : Why nations fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. The problem I have here is that from what I gather from your post the fundamental problems of resource cursed Equatorial Guinea is the same as other under developed economies like corruption, elite capture and fundamental nature of international businesses. Does
It would be interesting to look at the Lorenz curve of income distribution for this country. If the average income is around $35,000, but 70% of the population live in poverty, where does the money go. Not surprised though, reading about this country, it is run like a family business. If I understand it, the current president, Obiang Nguema, is the nephew of the first president, Francisco Macías Nguema. And now the vice-president is the son of the current president.
Sounds like this country is beating up the other two nepotistic African countries I know of: Gabon and Togo.
I don't see the point of blaming the foreign firms. They are profit maximising and have no legal nor moral obligation to the local Africans. Foreign governments also don't have a legal obligation to investigate crimes of their firms in foreign countries. Unless you think it's a good idea for a US court to be prosecuting powerful African politicians which will be labelled as "neo-colonialism" by the media. It's up to Africans citizens, and no one else, to discipline their elite
Thanks Ken, so much here that I had no idea about.
Some great points here on how unambitious elite capture is probably the worst kind. And doesn't the continent offer up such a wide spectrum of elite capture, with perhaps RFPs Crystal Ventures at the opposite end?
Is there a plausible what-if in which things would have gone differently?
A dynastic dictator got the opportunity to get far richer thanks to a new wealth source and he took it. Foreign companies had to pay bribes and give up part of ownership to get contracts and looks like they are not making great profits if they are exiting the market. I'm sure they also would prefer to not pay for expat enclaves but they have to if they want to bring the foreign specialists they need and they need them due to weak local human capital.
SOE like Petrobras can be corrupt themselves.
This is a very good example of extractive institutions as mentioned in excellent book : Why nations fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. The problem I have here is that from what I gather from your post the fundamental problems of resource cursed Equatorial Guinea is the same as other under developed economies like corruption, elite capture and fundamental nature of international businesses. Does
It would be interesting to look at the Lorenz curve of income distribution for this country. If the average income is around $35,000, but 70% of the population live in poverty, where does the money go. Not surprised though, reading about this country, it is run like a family business. If I understand it, the current president, Obiang Nguema, is the nephew of the first president, Francisco Macías Nguema. And now the vice-president is the son of the current president.
Sounds like this country is beating up the other two nepotistic African countries I know of: Gabon and Togo.
I don't see the point of blaming the foreign firms. They are profit maximising and have no legal nor moral obligation to the local Africans. Foreign governments also don't have a legal obligation to investigate crimes of their firms in foreign countries. Unless you think it's a good idea for a US court to be prosecuting powerful African politicians which will be labelled as "neo-colonialism" by the media. It's up to Africans citizens, and no one else, to discipline their elite