The Impact of Natural Resources Governance on Conflicts in Africa: a Case of Oil in South Sudan 2011-2020

Abstract

The African continent has been variously affected by persistent and intractable conflicts since independence to the present, which have defied efforts to resolve them. These unending and persistent conflicts are related to natural resources and have been responsible for direct and indirect deaths, hence, becoming an impediment to peace and security and a fertile ground for human rights abuse. This study argues that poor resource governance that has been characterised by mismanagement of public strategic resources is one of the aspects that shapes the dimension of these conflicts. Moreover, the presence of leaders, who lack a coherent vision for the management of these resources are driven by greed squandering these strategic resources such as oil, thus sustaining the very cycle of poverty and conflict. Further, poor implementation of legal framework, and a lack of citizen participation in the governance process of natural resources particularly, the governance of oil in South Sudan, aggregates grievances which leads to conflict. As its general objective, this study sought to examine the impact of natural resource governance on conflict in Africa with a focus on oil management in South Sudan. Specifically, the study sought to evaluate the impact of historical trends in natural resource governance on conflict in Africa, undertook an investigation on the role of international actors in natural resource governance in relation to oil conflicts in South Sudan, an evaluation of the impact of the oil governance legal framework on conflict in South Sudan and ultimately an examination of how oil governance in South Sudan has facilitated citizen participation towards conflict prevention. The study adopted the Greed and Grievance theory, which proposes that, natural resources offer an “opportunity” for actors to finance and sustain conflicts especially where resources are poorly governed. In addition, grievances that emerge from the poor management of these natural resources become a trigger to conflicts. The study was informed by a mixed method design which allowed the use of both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. A sample population of 152 was engaged using key informant interviews, questionnaires, and focus group discussion. The findings of the study indicate existence of poor governance of oil in South Sudan which is informed by a lack of citizen participation in the governance of resources, weak compliance and enforcement of natural resource governance regulations, poor relationship between host communities and multinational oil companies and existence of weak governance system, informed by low political will to implement regulation, and rent seeking from greedy political elites, who using their power direct resources to individual use. Furthermore, the government has taken insufficient attempts to educate and enlighten people about the legislative rules, governing oil management. Consequently, this has exacerbated structural injustices and denied most citizens an opportunity to hold the government accountable. The study findings also show that, there exist outstanding grievances from host communities, on the impact of oil pollution due to poor disposal by oil companies, which has seriously impacted on their health. In addition, the host communities perceive discrimination in the employment at the oil sector and even when employed, they are underpaid compared to international staff. They also regard multinational corporations as self-seekers of profits. Furthermore, multinationals have not transferred oil technologies as it is required by the local content, there by denying South Sudanese ownership and gainful employment that will facilitate them to fully take over the running of oil trade in future. These grievances have gone unresolved by the government, leading to direct confrontation from the host oil communities targeting the oil companies. Thus, the study postulates that a committee comprising of local leaders, civil societies, legal practitioners, environment experts, academicians, oil companies, health practitioners, and child and gender protection representatives should be formed to act as a monitoring committee on oil governance processes. These initiatives will enhance, citizen participation, promote transparency and accountability, promote environmental sustainability, and push for implementation of legal provisions such as technology transfer.