Financial Transparency Coalition

In December of 2011, nearly a year after South Sudan voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from its northern neighbor, I asked a very important question. Will South Sudan defy the resource curse? The “resource curse” is the tragic phenomenon that countries well-endowed with natural resources tend to have slower economic growth and poorer development than those without. According to an analysis of developing countries by Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner, the more an economy relies on mineral wealth, the lower its growth rate. Countries with significant natural resource endowments also tend to have an increased likelihood of experiencing war...

The resource curse is a tragic phenomenon that countries well-endowed with natural resources tend to have slower economic growth and poorer development than those without. This theory has been demonstrated very strongly in quantitative terms. According to an analysis of developing countries by Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner, the more an economy relies on mineral wealth, the lower its growth rate. Countries with significant natural resource endowments also tend to have an increased likelihood of experiencing war and violence and a decreased likelihood of having a democratic system of governance. In January of 2011 the people of Southern Sudan—this also...

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. Section 1504 of the Act requires oil, gas, and mineral producers who report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disclose any payments made to foreign governments in the process of developing and extracting materials. Section 1504, or the Cardin-Lugar amendment as it is known, promotes much-needed transparency in the extractive industries sector. It represents the first time a country-by-country reporting policy has been introduced into US law, albeit on a limited scale. The cost of corruption in the extractive...

JUBA, South Sudan – The new state of South Sudan must guarantee transparency and accountability in its oil sector in order to demonstrate its commitments to sustainable development and combating corruption, said Global Witness today. The call comes on the eve of the South’s independence from the north on July 9.