IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v102y2025ics0301420725000649.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Born with a silver spoon but raised as a beggar: Fresh empirical investigations into the resource curse thesis in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Achuo, Elvis Dze
  • Njong, Aloysius Mom
  • Miamo, Clovis Wendji

Abstract

Although African countries are richly blessed with several types of natural resources, Africa's development trajectory over the years has remained derisory. Consequently, this study empirically probed into the direct and indirect effects of natural resources on sustainable development. The empirical investigations covering the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development were conducted using the System Generalised Method of Moments approach for a panel of 44 African economies from 1996 to 2022. The results reveal that natural resources adversely contribute to economic development while fostering social development and environmental sustainability. Besides, the negative contribution of natural resources to economic development is higher among resource-rich countries compared to resource-scarce countries, thereby showing evidence of the resource curse thesis in Africa. However, the resource bless thesis is apparent with regard to the contribution of natural resources to social development and environmental sustainability. Moreover, the effects of natural resources on sustainable development are divergent for different types of natural resources. Furthermore, the interactive regressions reveal the critical role of good governance in modulating the negative impact of resource rents on sustainable development, as evidenced by the established positive net effects and threshold values. Practical policy implications emanating from the findings are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Achuo, Elvis Dze & Njong, Aloysius Mom & Miamo, Clovis Wendji, 2025. "Born with a silver spoon but raised as a beggar: Fresh empirical investigations into the resource curse thesis in Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:102:y:2025:i:c:s0301420725000649
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105522
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420725000649
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105522?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:102:y:2025:i:c:s0301420725000649. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.