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Structured Transformation and Natural Resources Management in Africa

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Managing Africa’s Natural Resources

Part of the book series: International Political Economy Series ((IPES))

Abstract

Despite a dip during the global economic recession, many African nations continue to ride a natural resource and commodity export-driven economic boom. A critical question for these countries is whether this boom is somehow different than those of the past, which all faded with time. Some have argued that we are experiencing an underlying shift in global demand for commodities because of growing urbanization on the international scale and the swelling ranks of the middle class in the global South. These factors are seen as having fundamentally changed the demand for food and raw materials that many African nations are well placed to supply. Such deeper shifts in demand may lead one to conclude that African economies, which are largely dominated by primary production and are the least diversified of all developing regions, should merely ride the wave to sustained prosperity. Furthermore, some have posited that African economies ought to remain focused on primary production, the area in which they have an advantage relative to other actors in the global economic system (Naude et al. 2010).

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Authors
  1. William G. Moseley
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Zimbabwe

    Kobena T. Hanson (Head of Knowledge and Learning) & Cristina D’Alessandro (Knowledge Management Expert) (Head of Knowledge and Learning) &  (Knowledge Management Expert)

  2. Iowa State University, USA

    Francis Owusu (Professor) (Professor)

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© 2014 William G. Moseley

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Moseley, W.G. (2014). Structured Transformation and Natural Resources Management in Africa. In: Hanson, K.T., D’Alessandro, C., Owusu, F. (eds) Managing Africa’s Natural Resources. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137365613_5

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