A legal analysis of the governance and management of natural resources in Africa: the cases of Nigeria and South Africa

Abstract

The UN Resolution 1803 of 1962 on Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources (PSNR) was a catalyst for rethinking the ownership and governance of natural resources. In terms of the Resolution, the state is at the centre of the ownership and governance of natural resources, as prescribed by international law and the relevant municipal laws, to create and sustain socio-economic development for its people. Africa is endowed with vast natural resources, yet Africa remains the most socio-economically deprived continent in the world. A key reason for this deprivation is the poor management and control of natural resources. Using the comparative legal method, this study explores the management and control of national resources in Africa, with reference to the most endowed and leading economies in Africa: Nigeria and South Africa. The study finds a fracture in the relationship between natural resource endowment in Africa and the optimal socio-economic development of the people in the two countries, contrary to the PSNR principles. This disconnect stems from the legacy of colonial legislation and administration, which is evident and dominant in the post-colonial governmental attitude of self-seeking through elite nationalism. Furthermore, this study shows a huge divide between the state’s and the people’s shared rights in the international law provisions on natural resources. The state has usurped the inherent shared rights to the ownership and governance of natural resources. This triggers asymmetries in the ownership and governance balance, which impede the socio-economic development benefits expected of natural resource ownership. The study proposes reforms in African countries’ domestic natural resource legislation to infuse the PSNR principles. The study suggests a supranational framework for controlling and managing natural resources in Africa – the African Natural Resources Regulatory Panel (ANRRP) – which is inspired by the EU’s natural resource control and management framework