African Arguments

Top Menu

  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Climate
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • Think African [Podcast]
    • #EndSARS
    • Into Africa [Podcast]
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Africa Science Focus [Podcast]
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

logo

African Arguments

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Climate
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • Think African [Podcast]
    • #EndSARS
    • Into Africa [Podcast]
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Africa Science Focus [Podcast]
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
Politics
Home›African Arguments›Politics›African sovereign wealth funds prospects – by Jolyon Ford, Oxford Analytica.

African sovereign wealth funds prospects – by Jolyon Ford, Oxford Analytica.

By Uncategorised
December 16, 2011
1739
0

For sub-Saharan governments one largely unmentioned reaction to the fall of Libya’s Colonel Qadhafi earlier this year was their surprise at the scale of the country’s offshore sovereign wealth funds – now at the disposal of the Transitional National Council and/or its elected successor administration.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan took his proposals for 2012 to the national assembly this week, but made no mention of the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) for the country. The idea has been on the table for a while – as it has also been in Angola.

Nigeria already has an Excess Crude Account, but its withdrawals during 2011 show that it tends not to treat it like a SWF. Whilst prices are currently elevated (at least for now), the idea of capturing and setting aside all revenues above a nominal price is, in principle, appealing. However, in Nigeria’s case it requires, among other things, reassuring state governments that Abuja’s management of such a fund would not affect the federal balance in ways adverse to any or all states.

Angola’s plans for a SWF were shelved during the 2008-09 financial crisis – these proposed establishing a reserve fund for oil, and potentially ring-fencing for future sovereign expenditure all revenues above a nominal ($68 a barrel) price. It remains to be seen whether (beyond the diversification and expansion activities of the Sonangol conglomeration) it will establish a SWF with the potential for a related degree of revenue transparency.

As it enters the production ranks, Ghana has sought to learn from Nigeria’s experience. As Timor-Leste did upon its independence in 2002, South Sudan has looked to Norway for assistance in setting up a non-politicised vehicle that could ring-fence excess hydrocarbon revenue for the future. With major oil and gas discoveries recently from Namibia and Mozambique to Uganda and Tanzania there exists a window of opportunity for the establishment of suitable mechanisms that can fulfil longer-term goals, providing buffers for commodities volatility and demographic change without unduly constraining the nearer-term expenditure needs and expectations.

Firms capable of offering such methods to ensure a more predictable investment-based future revenue stream will find a receptive audience – although one often pre-disposed to a shorter-term view. Those campaigning for revenue transparency and greater spread of wealth from resources will see discussions around setting up special purpose sovereign vehicles as an opportunity to bring these issues into greater public scrutiny.

Jolyon Ford is a senior analyst at Oxford Analytica, the global analysis and advisory firm.

Previous Article

“If Somalia fails, it will fail like ...

Next Article

‘Pray the Devil Back to Hell’ and ...

Uncategorised

Leave a reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Politics

    South Sudan: bad news for Beijing as Machar attacks oil fields – By Tim Steinecke

  • Politics

    Nigeria’s fight against corruption – Myth or renewed hope? – by Lagun Akinloye

  • Politics

    ICC and Kenya: ‘Ocampo’s Six’ an important hurdle for the International Criminal Court – By Charlie Warren

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter


  • 81.7K+
    Followers

Find us on Facebook

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Recent Posts

  • We’ve already breached most of the Earth’s limits. How can we get back?
  • Africa’s topsy-turvy food paradox
  • Zambia: The president’s five-point plan to stay in power at all costs
  • The two defining challenges facing South Africa
  • ‘Don’t Agonize, Organize!’ Remembering Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’s Advocacy on Sudan

Editor’s Picks

Editor's PicksNigeriaPolitics

An interview with Olusegun Obasanjo: Up close and a little too personal

Nigeria’s former president on Buhari, Biafra and bloody idiots. As the lift in his luxury London hotel rushes upwards to the 11th floor, Olusegun Obasanjo squeezes my arm warmly as ...
  • African climate protesters at COP26 in Glasgow, UK.

    2022 is Africa’s year to lead the world on climate change

    By Mohamed Adow
    January 12, 2022
  • Those who migrate (or Japa) in Nigeria often keep plans secret until they are complete.

    Why are Nigerians keeping migration plans secret from their friends?

    By Kingsley Charles
    November 8, 2022
  • israel cameroon

    Making a killing: Israeli mercenaries in Cameroon

    By Emmanuel Freudenthal & Youri van der Weide
    June 23, 2020
  • At a Y'en A Marre protest in Senegal in 2011. Credit: seneweb.

    “People will become more radical”: Senegal and the limits of protest

    By Ndongo Samba Sylla & Leo Zeilig
    October 18, 2022

Brought to you by


Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licence
Articles on African Arguments are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© Copyright African Arguments 2020
By continuing to browse this site, you agree to our use of cookies.