Did Nigeria and Angola manage their oil windfalls well between 1970 and 2000: what lessons can be learned for new oil producers?

A central goal that has eluded most countries in sub-Saharan Africa is to effectively manage their natural resources, develop diversified and prosperous economies, and as a result, improve the standard of living of their citizens. This paper draws from the framework of diversification and economic growth, resource-based industrialisation, resource curse hypothesis, ownership and control, and political structure and economic choices to examine how Nigeria and Angola managed their oil and gas resources from the 1970s to the late 1990s and the outcome of their choices. The period studied starts from the two oil booms in the 1970s up to the point at which numerous coup d'états and rebel conflicts ended, with a transition to civilian rule, in the late 1990s and early 2000s for Nigeria and Angola respectively. The findings show that both countries were poorly equipped to diversify their economies and failed to achieve economic prosperity for their citizens.