In this Q&A from The Conversation, Celeste Hicks, former BBC journalist and author of ‘Africa’s New Oil: Power, Pipelines and Future Fortunes’, shares her insights into the impacts and outcomes of oil finds for Africa’s rural communities. The interview was conducted by IDS research fellow Jeremy Lind, who introduces the piece.
Over the past decade, oil and gas exploration operations have multiplied across sub-Saharan Africa, often in remote areas far from political and commercial capitals. Wooed by surging prices in global markets, at least 90% of African countries now explore for oil and gas.
Until recently, when oil and gas prices remained high, foreign investors were willing to accept the risk on establishing operations in areas where there was little infrastructure and, sometimes, local opposition and resistance to states’ efforts to develop resources.

A villager shows a bucket of of crude oil spill at the banks of a river, after a Shell pipeline leaked, in the Oloma community in Nigeria’s delta region November 27, 2014.
Invariably, African governments trumpet the potential of oil and gas finds to transform economies and improve lives and livelihoods. But the economic, social and security benefits of oil and gas operations for rural populations are unclear.
Also, they may actually heighten local tensions. Investments in extracting resources in these areas are welcome, but they take place against a background of considerable marginalisation and violence. Continue reading →