A New Scramble for African Oil? Historical, Political, and Business Perspectives

It has been suggested that Africa is experiencing a ‘NewScramble’ thanks primarily to its oil and gas wealth,with the United States and the People’s Republic of Chinaactively competing for access to Africa’s resources. Thisarticle aims to scrutinize the claim that Africa is facing aNew Scramble, analysing the nature of the economic and politicalchanges at work, the importance of Africa’s oil, and thepolitical and economic forces behind the new oil rush. The articlestarts with an overview of the phenomenon labelled by some asthe ‘New Scramble’. The main body of the articleevaluates the existence of a New Scramble from three subjectperspectives: history, international relations, and businessstudies. Finally, by analysing the likely impact on the economiesof oil-producing states, it considers whether we should dismayor rejoice over the ‘New Scramble for Africa’. Itconcludes that the existence of a New Scramble or a US–Chineserace for Africa should be treated with some caution and thatthe use of terms such as ‘scramble’ and ‘race’is perhaps misleading, while the economic impact of oil investmentsis likely to be bleak.     

Author's reply: Shell in Nigeria: A further contribution

The Essential Gesture: writing, politics and places. Nadine Gordimer, London: Jonathan Cape. 1988. 356pp. £15.00hb

White Writing: on the culture of letters in South Africa. J M Coetzee, New Haven, Connecticut/London: Yale University Press. 1988. 193pp. £14.95hb     

The oil boom in Equatorial Guinea

In less than a decade, Equatorial Guinea has transformed itselffrom an African backwater into one of the world’s fastestgrowing economies and a sought-after political partner in theGulf of Guinea. The sole reason for this transformation hasbeen the discovery of oil and gas. This article outlines therise of Equatorial Guinea as one of Africa’s leading oilproducingcountries and investigates the political, economic and socialeffects of becoming a petro-state. The article is based on theauthor’s field research in Equatorial Guinea in the autumnof 2003 and interviews with senior oil company staff, governmentofficials and staff of international organizations as well assecondary sources. This research demonstrates how reliance onoil and gas exports can lead to profound changes in a country’spolitical economy.