Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil (utgåvan 2007)

The scramble for Africa's oil

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I really enjoyed this book. Oil is a massive story on every part of the globe but perhaps nowhere is it as relatively important as in Sub-Saharan Africa. The problems of this part of the world have been documented on many fronts. The extraction of oil increasing here the oppurtonity for hope and disaster are escalated. Ghazvinian does a enviable job of showing the diversity that exists across this vast area and myriad problems that have erupted. The mess in the Niger Delta is fairly common news but the vast reserves of Angola and Gabon are less discussed but no less complex and difficult. It is hard to say the exact role that oil has had in destabilizing many of these areas but it certainly has a role. To claim that Nigeria would function significantly better without its oil economy would seem to be a bold statement.

I found Ghazvinian's discussion of "rentier" to be very compelling and enlightening. These countries have degenerated to the point where to call them a sovereign state is questionable. If a government is funded solely by investment in extractive industries and not actually by the collective will of the population can we even distinguish that as entity worthy of statehood? When I told a co-worker that there was speculation that oil was going to start flowing out of his native county, Ethiopia, he responded simply, "That means there will be another war."

However, for all the hardships brought by the manipulation of these countries by the oil comapnies and their own governments, I still feel hopeful for oil to be a player in development. Personally, I feel the only way to achieve permanent economic stability is to develop a system focused on producing something. In the meantime, oil provides an income that if invested wisely can help develop something along these lines. I am not naive enough to even expect 5 percent of the income to used wisely at the moment. However, where was that 5 percent coming from before? I think the ability of a country to begin to wean itself off aid as its primary income is very important. This book was really quite good and I highly recommend it. ( )

A good travelogue/current affairs book. The author travels to the countries he discusses and gives a good feel for the political environment as well as the different consequences of oil economies. Goes along well with several other recent books for trying to understand the world petroleum situation outside of the Middle East. ( )

This journalist profiles the possibilities, the challenges, the obstacles (warring factions, thieving dictators, warlords in boats, pitiful populations living amidst fouled waters thanks to big oil companies) of getting oil out of Africa to feed the world’s lust for black gold. It’s at once illuminating and disturbing – a commentary of one more disaster for Africa and her people. ( )