17 June 2010
Introduction
Did you know OECD countries have an average of $300,000 worth of known sub-soil assets per square mile, while Africa has just $60,000? Is that because Africa is a resource poor continent? Or is it because there are a lot of undiscovered natural resources in Africa?
In this talk, Paul Collier looks at how natural assets can be exploited by developing countries for their own good. With the coming years likely to witness a tidal wave of resource discoveries in developing countries - such as the recent find of $1 trillion worth of minerals in Afghanistan - he argues that the potential revenues from such assets could be transformational.
Listen to Paul Collier's talk
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Background
Paul Collier is professor of economics and director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University. He took a five year public service leave between 1998 and 2003, during which he was director of the Research Development Department of the World Bank.
He is also a professeur invité at CERDI, Université d’Auverge, and at Paris 1. In 2008, Paul was awarded a CBE for services to scholarship and development.
He is the author of The Bottom Billion, which in 2008 won the Lionel Gelber, Arthur Ross and Corine prizes and in May 2009 was the joint winner of the Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book prize.
His second book, Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places was published in March 2009; and his latest book, The Plundered Planet: How To Reconcile Prosperity with Nature was published in May of this year, 2010.
Paul is currently advisor to the strategy and policy department of the IMF, advisor to the Africa Region of the World Bank and he has advised the British Government on economic development policy. He is also the academic director of the International Growth Centre.
His research covers the causes and consequences of civil war; the effects of aid and the problems of democracy in low-income and natural-resources rich societies.