Energy resources

Movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) : political marginalization, repression and petro-insurgency in the Niger Delta

Upphovsperson:	Courson, Elias
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2009
Ämnesord:	Energy resources, Petroleum industry, Transnational corporations, Macroeconomics, Geopolitics, conflicts, violence, Marginality, Protest movements, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Political science, Statsvetenskap

This Discussion paper addresses the linkages between the political economy of oil and violent conflict in Nigeria’s main oil and gas producing region, the Niger Delta. It is based on a case study of the insurgent Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which has targeted and attacked the interests of international oil companies and the federal government in the oil-rich, but impoverished, Niger Delta region of Nigeria, in its professed campaign for the control of the oil wealth of the region for the benefit of local people. Through this study of MEND, fresh perspectives are brought to bear on the causes and ramifications of the oil conflict in the region, and the role of various actors at the local, national and international levels. This is important in grasping the nature of the violence in the Niger Delta and Nigeria and the enormity of the task of resolving the complex conflict in which the region is immersed. It is a challenge, which as the author argues, transcends the resort to the militarized or securitized solutions that often fail to adequately address the roots of conflict.

Oil and Insurgency in the Niger Delta : Managing the Complex Politics of Petroviolence

Medarbetare:	Obi, Cyril I. | Rustad, Siri Aas
Utgivare:	London, Uppsala : Zed Books, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Energy resources, Petroleum industry, international trade, Transnational corporations, Geopolitics, Responsibility, Governance, Corruption, Political crisis, ethnic conflicts, Dispute settlement, Human rights violations, Political violence, Protest movements, Conflict management, Political conditions, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Political science, Statsvetenskap

The recent escalation in the violent conflict in the Niger Delta has brought the region to the forefront of international energy and security concerns. This book analyses the causes, dynamics and politics underpinning oil-related violence in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It focuses on the drivers of the conflict, as well as the ways the crises spawned by the political economy of oil and contradictions within Nigeria's ethnic politics have contributed to the morphing of initially poorly coordinated, largely non-violent protests into a pan-Delta insurgency. Approaching the issue from a number of perspectives, the book offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis available of the varied dimensions of the conflict. Combining empirically-based and analytic chapters, it attempts to explain the causes of the escalation in violence, the various actors, levels and dynamics involved, and the policy challenges faced with regard to conflict management/resolution and the options for peace. It also examines the role of oil as a commodity of global strategic significance, addressing the relationship between oil, energy security and development in the Niger Delta.

Biofuels, Land Grabbing and Food Security in Africa

Medarbetare:	Havnevik, Kjell | Matondi, Prosper B. | Beyene, Atakilte
Utgivare:	London : Zed Books/Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Biomass energy, Fuels, Energy resources, Food supply, Food security, Land tenure, Property rights. Africa, Tanzania, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Energy crisis and climate change have generated global demands for alternative non-fossil fuel sources. This has led to a rapid increase of investments in production of liquid biofuels based on agricultural feed stocks such as sugar cane. Most African governments see biofuels as a potential for increasing agricultural productivity and export incomes and thus strengthening their national economies, improving energy balances and rural employment. At the same time climate change may be addressed through reduction of green house gas emissions. There are, however, a number of uncertainties mounting that challenge this scenario. Using in-depth African case studies this book addresses this knowledge gap by examining the impacts of large-scale biofuel production on African agriculture in regard to vital land outsourcing and food security issues. The surge for African biofuels has also opened space for private investors both domestic and external to multiply and network 'independently' of the state. The biofuel expansion thus generates new economic alliances and production relations, resulting in new forms of inclusions and exclusions within the rural population. An essential book for anyone wishing to understand the startling impact of biofuels and land outsourcing on Africa.

The Nigerian state, oil and the Niger Delta crisis

Upphovsperson:	Ukiwo, Ukoha
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | London; Uppsala : Zed Books; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Energy resources, Petroleum industry, international trade, Transnational corporations, Geopolitics, Responsibility, Governance, Corruption, Political crisis, ethnic conflicts, Dispute settlement, Human rights violations, Political violence, Protest movements, Conflict management, Political conditions, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Political science, Statsvetenskap

The recent escalation in the violent conflict in the Niger Delta has brought the region to the forefront of international energy and security concerns. This book analyses the causes, dynamics and politics underpinning oil-related violence in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It focuses on the drivers of the conflict, as well as the ways the crises spawned by the political economy of oil and contradictions within Nigeria's ethnic politics have contributed to the morphing of initially poorly coordinated, largely non-violent protests into a pan-Delta insurgency. Approaching the issue from a number of perspectives, the book offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis available of the varied dimensions of the conflict. Combining empirically-based and analytic chapters, it attempts to explain the causes of the escalation in violence, the various actors, levels and dynamics involved, and the policy challenges faced with regard to conflict management/resolution and the options for peace. It also examines the role of oil as a commodity of global strategic significance, addressing the relationship between oil, energy security and development in the Niger Delta.

Causes and cures of oil-related Niger Delta conflicts

Upphovsperson:	Ukiwo, Ukoha
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2009
Ämnesord:	Energy resources, petroleum resources, Transnational corporations, conflicts, Geopolitics, Macroeconomics, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Peace and conflict research, Freds- och konfliktforskning

Nigeria’s political and economic fortunes and the country’s ability to play a stabilizing role in the African region partly depend on the resolution of the lingering Niger Delta conflict. The Niger Delta covers nine out of 36 states and 185 out of 774 local government areas of the Nigerian federation. It occupies a total land area of 75,000 square kilometers and is the world’s third largest wetlands. The 2006 Nigerian population census shows that 30 million out of the country’s 140 million people reside in the Niger Delta region. Nearly all of Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves are located in the region. Oil and gas have accounted for about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since 1990. Between 2000 and 2004, oil and gas accounted for 75 per cent of total government revenues and 97 per cent of foreign exchange. Apart from being vital to Nigeria’s fiscal viability, the Niger Delta is important to global energy security.

Energy and development in southern Africa : SADCC country studies. P. 2

Upphovspersoner:	O'Keefe, Phil | Munslow, Barry
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; The Beijer Institute
År:	1984
Ämnesord:	Southern Africa, Energy consumption, Energy demand, Energy supply, Energy resources, Development, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Many developing countries have been hard hit by the double "energy crisis" of threatened fuelwood supply and the increasing burden of oil imports. During the last decade energy provision has become a vitally important issue so that energy is now regarded as a basic factor of production ranking in importance with classical components: land, labour and capital. Careful and innovative energy planning has become a necessity for successful development. This volume contains the first part of a series of nine energy country studies, prepared by the Beijer Institute as background material for the SADCC Regional Energy Seminar in Harare, December 1982. This series report on the methodology and findings of the Kenyan and SADCC studies.