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Analyse information
Be vigilant about the resource discovery process. There are good and bad ways of discovering resources. Good practices are to gather and analyse geological information, so that the government is properly informed before it begins negotiations with extraction companies. Rule of thumb: Dont sell prospecting rights at once and dont sell them without time limits. Use a competitive and transparent process.
Think of prosperity
Balance the benets to the present generation and the benets to the future generation. Create a critical mass of citizens who know and understand the rules and issues. Resource discoveries will not last long. For instance, Ugandas oil wells have been projected to last for around 25 years. Rule of thumb: The proportion of assets that is dedicated to savings and investments should be balanced with the proportion that is invested in consumption.
Assets to acquire?
Norway handled the discovery of oil very well. It bought foreign assets. This was a sensible decision for them because the country already had enormous capital investment, but it would be foolish for Africa which needs capital locally. Africa needs to build the capacity to invest well. Rule of thumb: conduct a cost and benet analysis on every project. Look at design, selection, implementation and, most importantly, evaluation.