Resource Curse

Transparency Can Alleviate Poverty. George Soros. Financial Times. "...Countries that are rich in natural resources are often poor because exploiting those resources takes precedence over good government. Competing oil and mining companies, backed by their governments, have often been willing to deal with anyone who could assure them of a concession. This has bred corrupt and repressive governments and armed conflict. In Africa, civil wars have devastated resource-rich countries such as Congo, Angola and Sudan. In the Middle East, democracy has failed to materialize. Lifting this resource curse could make a large contribution to alleviating poverty and misery in the world, and there is an international movement aimed at doing just that. The first step is transparency; the second is accountability..."

Africa Needs an Al-Jazeera. Philip Fiske de Gouveia. Foreign Policy. "...Such an entity [an independent, indigenous, multimedia, multilingual, pan-continental broadcasting network – owned and managed by Africans], broadcasting on television, radio, and the Internet, would push secretive governments toward greater transparency, foster economic and political ties between distant parts of the continent, and report honestly on events and trends affecting Africans..."

Civil Society Improves Governance and Poverty: Evidence from Six Country Studies. 2007. The International Budget Project and the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, produced in-depth case studies of six established budget groups in Brazil, Croatia, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Uganda.

International Budget Project Newsletter. November-December 2007

- Increasing Synergies between Revenue Transparency and Budget Monitoring: The Experience of PWYP Coalitions in Africa by Matteo Pellegrini

- Using the Radio to Mainstream Budget Transparency, Foro Jóven, Colombia by Rocío Campos

- Social Accountability and Budget Monitoring in Mozambique by Adriano Nuvunga

- The 2008 Ghana Budget, the Centre for Budget Advocacy (CBA) of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC)

- Budget Transparency with a Gender Focus, Civil Resource Development and Documentation Center (CIRDDOC) Nigeria by Show Ei Tun

Transparency and Accountability In Africa’s Extractive Industries: The Role of The Legislature. National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. 2007

Obasanjo's thankless task. BBC News. 7 October 2004