Many countries in Africa have discovered oil. However, oil is not necessarily making us rich. Oil revenues in Africa are not delivering the improvement of public services as it was hoped.
Take for example the case of Equatorial Guinea. This country has overflowing oil as a natural resource. On paper, it's per capita income would be $34,000 , making it even richer than Britain. However, this is not the reality on the ground. The President, Theodora Nguema, has looted much of the wealth. His son has several palatial homes in Paris, France. He owns a multi million dollar yatch. And yet, France wouldn't do anything to rectify this. Why isn't there any action that is taken against the banks that aid in the stealing?
Take another case. Isabel dos Santos, the richest woman in Africa. She is worth at a least a billion dollars. She was the head of the petroleum agency in Angola, having been placed there by none other than his father, former Angolan President Eduardo Dos Santos. On paper, Angola, Africa's largest oil producer, could be one of the richest countries in the world.
Let's cast a different look and look elsewhere how certain countries have managed their oil resources. The United Arab Emirates, UAE, was a desolate desert country in the 1960s. With the discovery of oil in the kingdom, things changed. However, the king instituted some long term measures. He repositioned Dubai as a tourist and business center, knowing that oil will run out by 2030. Now, Dubai is one of the leading tourist centers in the world, with millions of tourists every year. Can our oil producers do the same? Nigeria, Angola et al.
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