Ugandan Journalist on His Country's Path to Avoid the Resource Curse

Revenue Watch: After a past ridden with poverty, corruption and civil unrest, Uganda has the potential to change its course with the recent discovery of oil. An oil reserve estimated to hold 800 million barrels and to generate $2 billion annually for more than 20 years could help Uganda accelerate its growth and diversify its economy—if the right steps are taken.

Angelo Izama, a journalist for the regional newspaper, The East African, is optimistic. He believes Uganda can avoid the resource course if the public gets engaged, government institutions evolve with the country’s needs, good laws are not only put into place but also enforced, and democracy finally prevails over political patronage in the next election.

“We are already in great shape,” Izama said. “Why? Because we have time. Uganda doesn’t start oil production until 2017, so we have the time to sort ourselves out. We have the time to escape the resource curse before we even extract oil from the ground.”...