The Case for Sharing Africa’s New Minerals Wealth With All Africans

World Bank blog: When Ghana’s Jubilee oil field hits peak production in 2013, it will produce 120,000 barrels a day. Uganda’s Lake Albert Rift Basin fields could potentially produce even greater quantities. Billions of dollars a year could flow into Mozambique and Tanzania thanks to natural gas findings. And in Sierra Leone, mining iron ore in Tonkolili could boost GDP by a remarkable 25 percent in 2012.... One strikingly effective way to make sure that all people, especially the poorest, share in the new minerals prosperity is through safety nets and social protection programs... You can see Africa’s growing interest in social safety nets in the fact that governments have set up more than 130 cash transfer programs in over 35 countries. Direct cash transfers to poor people often work side-by-side with workfare programs that create jobs for people in public works such as building roads. Where these programs have been well set-up and managed, the results have been excellent...