Natural resources: Opportunity or burden for African countries?

Natural resources: Opportunity or burden for African countries?
Wednesday 15 April | 18H00

The abundance of natural resources in Sub-Saharan Africa — hydrocarbons, strategic minerals, and agricultural land — represents both a major driver of development and a source of economic, political, and social vulnerabilities.

These resources fuel growth, attract international investment, and strengthen the continent’s integration into global value chains. However, they also raise structural challenges: dependence on commodities, revenue volatility, governance of resource rents, conflicts over land use, and environmental pressures.

What role do natural resources play in development trajectories? Can they support sustainable economic transformation, or do they lock certain countries into patterns of dependency and fragility?

In a context of geopolitical reconfiguration and global energy transition, the question of how these resources are managed becomes central, as does the ability of states to reconcile exploitation, economic sovereignty, and sustainable development.

To explore these issues, Maxime Lefebvre and Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, co-directors of the ESCP Geopolitics Institute, welcome:

• Nicolas Normand, former Ambassador to several African countries, notably author of Le Grand Livre de l’Afrique (Eyrolles)
• Emmanuel Pinto Moreira, economist, Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and Director of the Economics Department at the African Development Bank

A strategic discussion to analyze emerging balances and the key policy choices facing African states.

The webinar will be held in French. Registration is mandatory.

Register