The Role of Governance in the Management of the Uranium Based Revenues for the Economic Development of Niger

Abstract

Mining has been part of mankind since time immemorial and history has shown how nations have used their natural resources to better their economic status. While some nations such as Canada, Australia, Norway and Botswana have successfully converted their mineral wealth into sustainable socio-economic development, many others have failed to do so, a case in point being Niger.

The World Bank in conjunction with other international development agencies has identified poor governance as the key factor behind the failure of most resource-rich developing nations. As a result, a new thinking was developed resting on the premise that good governance is the precondition to the attainment of the socio-economic development of developing nations. Empirical analysis was conducted to test that hypothesis and the results revealed that good governance is key to achieving socio-economic development coupled with other factors such as having a national strategic vision and coordination among the elite.

The results by the World Bank and l’Agence Française de Développement show a strong correlation between good governance and development. However, according to l’Agence Française de Développement, the correlation between good governance and the speed at which development is achieved is extremely weak. This implies that there are other factors that influence the development course of a nation faster than the implementation of good governance.

Having established the above link between good governance and socio-economic development, this thesis uses Niger as a case study in exploring the relationship between the country’s uranium management and good governance and the possibility of the nation translating its uranium wealth into sustainable human development. In addition to this, the paper identifies challenges in Niger’s management of its uranium and puts across various policy recommendations aimed at combating those challenges.