Reconstruction of Economic Governance after Conflict in Resource-rich African Countries: Concepts, Dimensions and Policy Interventions

Abstract

This study investigates the complex issues of reconstructing economic governance after conflict in resource-rich African countries. The concept of economic governance - although based on the overall concept of governance in developing countries - is important for development, reconstruction and crisis prevention, and in this study the economic core functions and dimensions of governance are elaborated in more detail. This is done by referring to the various conceptual meanings and to the different theoretical backgrounds, so as to come up with an operational term. The economic issues of reconstructing governance after civil war and civil conflict and for preventing and successfully overcoming the resource curse in resource-rich African countries are classified, and the most important policy areas and dimensions are elaborated. Also the sub- regional, provincial and local economic governance issues are presented to highlight the specific problems of economic reconstruction in regions, provinces and localities. This is a necessary step as it is important to see where the resources are located and how the exploitation of resources takes place, thus often leading to severe negative impacts on the local people, the traditional economy and the indigenous society. Public guidance and public action obviously can successfully re-establish economic governance in such countries at the central and local levels if certain conditions are met. These conditions are presented in the study. Obviously a lot can be learned from case studies (such as Nigeria, Sudan, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Ghana).