New Directions In African Developmentalism: The Emerging Developmental State In Resource-Rich Africa

Abstract

African states are reclaiming a greater role in natural resource extraction
that is generating significant scholarly interest and debate. This paper
contributes to the debate by considering how these measures fit into the
developmental state paradigm first used to study East Asian countries following
World War II, and the “new” development state framework that currently
dominates law and development scholarship. This paper argues that recent
policy reforms by African states – including enhanced local participation,
increased linkages between extractive industries and other sectors, and broader
resource nationalist measures that seek to generate more revenue for national
governments – are characteristic of the developmental state and “new”
developmental state, neither have fully taken shape in resource-rich Africa as
it is unclear how these new measures address “good governance” and
democracy concerns.