The relative stability in West Africa after the wave of independence in the 1960s gave way to some large-scale, violent conflicts and civil wars from the 1990s onward. Especially in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, the region increasingly faces an array of emerging threats, mostly relating to creeping state fragility and including a ‘democracy deficit’, deteriorating socioeconomic conditions, recurrent sectarian violence, corruption and transnational criminality, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), and conflagrations linked to poor natural resource governance. These threats have had grave repercussions on national and regional peace and security, prompting a renewed awareness of the need to mobilise national, regional, continental and global efforts to tackle them. The growing instances of conflict arising from the mismanagement of natural resources have posed new challenges to peace and security in the region. Rather than becoming a blessing, Africa’s vast resources seem to have empowered only a few while disenfranchising and alienating the majority; including those who bear the direct burden of resource exploitation. The abundance of diverse natural resources has not translated into food on the table, gainful employment, improved socio-economic conditions and overall national development. Instead, it is evident that weak natural resource governance (NRG) has become a major driver of violence. For instance, competition for access to high-value natural resources such as oil and gas (Nigeria), timber (Liberia), diamonds (Sierra Leone) and coffee (Côte d’Ivoire) escalated into vicious conflicts and full-blown civil wars. In some cases, it is cut-throat competition for control of resources such as land and water. In other cases, the mismanagement of such resources either contributes to the outbreak and exacerbation of new conflicts, or simply obstructs the peaceful resolution of old and long-drawn ones.
