Ethnic inclusion in resource-rich states in West Africa

New Zurich WP: This working paper argues that power sharing amongst ethnic groups is crucial for the political management of resource wealth in Africa. As ethnic conflicts often result from a struggle over access to the state and its material benefits, power sharing should decrease the conflict risk in resource-rich countries. The paper tests this argument in a quantitative analysis of West Africa, based on a new dataset on natural resource wealth. The results show that ethnic power sharing indeed significantly decreases the risk of ethnic conflict onset. Moreover, it mediates the conflict-fuelling effect of resource production: Only where relevant ethnic groups are excluded does resource wealth lead to conflict. However, the analysis also indicates that for ethnic power sharing to be effective it needs to include all relevant ethnic groups in a country.