Poisoned Wells: The Dirty Politics of African Oil

by Nicholas Shaxson

Each week the oil and gas fields of sub-Saharan Africa produce over a billion dollars worth of oil, yet this rising tide of money is not promoting stability or development but instead is causing violence, poverty and stagnation. 'Poisoned Wells' exposes the root causes of this paradox of poverty from plenty.

Genres: Africa, Politics, Nonfiction, Economics, History, Current Affairs

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 20, 2007

About the author

Shaxson was born in Malawi and has lived at various times in India, Brazil, England, Lesotho, Spain, Angola, South Africa, Germany and the Netherlands. Since 1993 he has written on global business and politics for the Financial Times, Reuters, the Economist and its sister publication the Economist Intelligence Unit, International Affairs, Foreign Affairs, American Interest, the BBC, Africa Confidential, African Energy, and others.

Shaxson currently lives with his partner and their two children in Zürich, Switzerland.

Reviews

[Simon Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

OILS NOT WELL

"Posioned Wells" is the first book by the author of that excellent exposition of Tax Havens - "Treasure Islands". The subject of this book is the experience of West African oil producing countries, with particular focus on the question of why these repositories of vast mineral wealth have not been able to direct their wealth into meaningful and sustained development.

While there is certainly a degree of generalising on these countries experiences, the format the book takes is that of focusing on a particular individual, and relating the story of each country through their experiences. Shaxsons Motley crew are the flamboyant Nigerian musician and somewhat singular opposition figure Fela Kuti, and his fellow Nigerian Dokubo-Asari, a militia leader from the Niger Delta region; Equatorial Guinea's assasinated opposition politician Pedro Motu, and the same countries president Obiang Ngeuma; Angola's Abel Abraao, a journalist trapped for months in Kuito under UNITA seige; Gabons authoritarian dictator Omar Bongo; Andre Malongo, the Congo Republics former reform minded leader; Fradique da Menezes, the president of Sao Tome e Principe who talks the talk of reform, like so many modern politicians in and out of Africa, while walking the familiar path of corruption and wasted opportunities.

The part on the Norwegian born though French based investigating magistrate Eva Jolly brilliantly illustrates the Neo-Colonial dimension with regard to the countries under Shaxsons eye, and is one of the highights of the book, perhaps because I was unfamiliar with the story of France's former African colonies and the powerfull corrupting influence of monies syphoned from them into the French political system; the Russian-Canadian-Israeli-French Arcadi Gaydamak represents the kind of wheeler dealer observers of the international arms trade will be familiar with. From the U.K. there is Global Witness, an NGO that has done much work shedding light on where the oil revenues have gone.

This is not as accomplished a work as "Treasure Islands", but is still of great interest and presumably, being published in 2007, still relevant. The author does occasionally make dubious statements, for instance that politics and economics are seperate in the developed west! The relationship is certainly not the same as that of a primary product exporting nation but still intimately intertwined. Otherwise he makes explicable the apparent paradox of oil riches and lack of development going hand in hand, the role played by Tax Havens (including the U.S and the U.K.) in West African corruption, and the zero-sum game that the fight for access to oil revenues, often between different ethnic groups, descends into. The book ends with Shaxsons one size fits all solution with regard to corruption - paying out the revenues directly to citizens, an idea that he promotes with more zeal than seems wise in an otherwise thoughtful book.

A book that, despite a few reservations, I have no problem recommending to readers interested in the Political Economy of Oil, Africa or the problems that face Post Colonial States. Other books of interest on the subject of oil & politics would include: "The Next Gulf: London, Washington and Oil Conflict in Nigeria" and "Fuel on the Fire: Oil and Politics in Occupied Iraq".

[Eugenia O'Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an insightful read into how, in the absence of strong measures to ensure good governance, African oil wealth has, for the most part, only generated corruption. The author looked at each country that had, up to the time of publication, discovered oil within its borders or near its shores and examined the role multi-nationals, international persons of influence and political (or military) leaders played in diverting the wealth from going toward the greater good of all the people. Shaxson makes the point that oil corrupts and great oil wealth corrupts absolutely but the adoption of transparent banking practices and more open political processes in ALL countries - including the United States, Luxembourg, France and other places traditionally identified as tax havens - can eliminate some of its more extreme expressions.

I found this book highly informative and very readable. If you want to know about some of the modern problems afflicting the continent today, about the greed of too many of its rulers and about how other countries are or have been complicit all in the pursuit of oil then read this book.

[JennyB · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried and tried, but I just couldn't manage to finish this. Even so, I am giving it three stars because it's informative and well written, but... There's far too much detail in here for someone seeking a general overview of the topic -- I'd have needed a degree in contemporary African politics to keep all the places and people straight. I also didn't like the structure of the book, where each chapter is about a person who is somehow tied to or embodies the evil that oil has wrought in a particular African country. And be sure -- there are no happy ending with oil wealth in Africa, unless you happen to be one of the handful of corrupt political elites whose pockets it is lining!

[Holly Morrow]

A really interesting book about the "dirty politics of African oil" -- the role that oil money has played in enabling some of the worst African dictators (Obiang, Abacha, etc;) and creating incredibly distorted societies where, for example, the Gabon has the world's highest per capita consumption of French champagne, alongside desperate poverty. The author is a reporter, and it reads like journalism, which is a strength and weakness: neat, lively stories but without scholarly rigor and with significant holes in data. Each chapter is an exploration of the effect oil wealth has had on an African country, told around a central character (Fela Kuti in Nigeria, for example). But its pretty much the same story in every chapter -- oil is found; corrupt and autocratic leaders get grossly wealthy and stash it all in overseas banks; the scramble for a share of the spoils ignites conflict, usually along ethnic/tribal lines; massive borrowing during the boom years leads to a debt hangover when prices fall; inflation caused by the influx of hard currency makes other industries uneconomic so dependency on oil increases; Western companies and greedy individuals take advantage of the country's resources (especially the French -- by far the most venal); and the 90% of the country's population that aren't drinking from the trough of oil wealth actually become worse off, because of all of the above; the oil dries up and everyone wonders where all the money went. Its not a new story, but its told in fascinating close-up detail. My main criticism of the book, and its VERY annoying at points, is that the author can be sloppy and there is a lot of innuendo thrown around where he can't actually prove a point. Fancy cars outside the police headquarters in Angola mean, wink wink, that they're stealing the oil revenues (they probably are, but its still sloppy); he juxtaposes the value of a slave cargo leaving Congo Brazzaville 200 years ago with the value of an oil tanker leaving today -- not actually making the analogy (which would be grotesque) but encouraging the reader to make it; he throws in the non-sequitor fact that Riggs Bank has a Bush cousin on the Board and also launders Obiang's oil money, from which we're supposed to draw some sort of conclusion. There are a number of counterarguments that could be made to the overall premise of the book (the main one being that many countries around the world have managed their natural resource wealth in a way that does not create the horrible effects seen in his book) but I accept his main point that oil, in Africa, has generally been more curse than blessing. Its told in this book as a story about oil, and how it produces bad governance, but it could easily be told as a story of bad governance, with a sidebar about oil. Its a shame the book was written in 2007, because if it was written now I suspect there'd be a much big focus on Chinese oil companies, which have become major players in recent years, and that story has not been well and extensively told yet.

[Anandh Sundar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book on the exploitation of Africa details the 'natural resource curse' on Africa that because of its abundant oil/minerals, the corrupt elite flourish with no incentive to keep the people happy. What differentiates this book from other working papers/studies is the author's reporting experience in a vast swathe of the continent which he uses to write 10 case studies, one on each country. While the solution he proposes may seem idealistic today(Alaska type distribution of royalties to each citizen), it may still work in one's lifetime. Quite interestingly written without losing rigour.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not an academic text by any means. The author, a journalist, was clearly looking for a storytelling outlet where he could be less than poltically correct. You kind of get the feeling he's not always telling the whole story. Still, the book is an entertaining peek into the world of African oil and governance. Nicholas Shaxton has the appropriate experience to guide the reader on a journey through this dark world and his writing is fairly solid.

[Adrian]

Shaxson has undeniable cred in the world of African oil. He has a million stories and as many leads on corruption in that world but the names, countries and scandals (most of which are complex) defeated me. I couldn't keep them separate. I quit 2/3rds into the book.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a more anecdotal overview of the rush for African oil to exploit by outside corporations and countries. It is an easy-read and a good intro. I am preferring other more academic books on the subject.

[Sophie MH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing read. You will not listen to / watch the news about the current African Oil politics and wars the same way after you carefully read these short true stories. Enlightening.

[Hama · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ggod to book read along with Dead Aid of Dambisa Mayo

[Anil]

very good

[David Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best I've read in a long time.

[Elizabeth Low · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that outlines the terrible drawbacks for poor and undeveloped nations when they discover oil riches - through Africa's. The writer's experiences from years of reporting in the continent made this quite compelling and personal at the same time, and he does a great job of linking government corruption to oil money. Tad outdated by now, but still important context in the face of any new oil discoveries being made today.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched, insightful portrayal of the oil curse in Africa: destroying the environment, disrupting society, unbalancing national economies, exponentially increasing poverty, enabling increased profits for organized crime. Shaxson explains why global citizens need to pay attention and stop saying it's "SEP" - somebody else's problem.

[Harry Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

"ExxonMobil likes to say that there is no resource curse, just a governance curse. This is like saying of a heroin addict with criminal tendencies that there is no drug problem, just a criminal problem. They are wrong: the heart of the matter is not rulers' corruption or companies' misbehavior but oil and gas itself."