Oil, Democracy, and Development in Africa

Download or read book Oil, Democracy, and Development in Africa written by John R. Heilbrunn and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-21 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oil, Democracy, and Development in Africa presents an optimistic analysis of the continent's oil-producing states. With attention to the complex histories, the interactions of key industry actors and policy makers, and the goals of diverse groups in society, this contribution fills a gap in the literature on resource-abundant countries. John R. Heilbrunn presents a positive assessment of circumstances in contemporary African oil exporters. The book demonstrates that even those leaders who are among the least accountable use oil revenues to improve their citizens' living standards, if only a little bit. As a consequence, African oil producers are growing economically and their people are living under increasingly democratic polities. Heilbrunn thus calls for a long-overdue reassessment of the impact of hydrocarbons on developing economies.