Episode details
World Service,10 Oct 2004,22 mins
São Tomé and PrÃncipe – will it be oil boom or bust?
Profit and Loss: The Story of African OilAvailable for over a year
Africa's smallest nation is on the brink of an oil bonanza. But will the country fall victim to what economists call the "resource curse" – when countries who look rich because they have discovered oil are ruined by their good fortune and slide into corruption and profligacy? A new generation of financial institutions and African politicians claim to have learned from past mistakes. Is their optimism justified?
Programme Website