Africa's oil producers, including Gabon, must decide how to manage windfall oil revenues
Africa's oil-producing countries are benefiting from high global market prices for oil, raising the question of how they should manage their windfall revenues. Is it better to use the resources to tackle the many challenges they face, thereby advancing their efforts to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—which cover a broad range of social goals, including halving poverty from its 1990 level, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, and achieving universal primary education—or should they set aside a portion of the resources to provide for future generations?
It is very tempting to use these revenues to make up lost ground. Like other developing countries, Gabon has deficiencies in basic infrastructure, job creation, and access to basic social services (especially in health care and education). Poverty afflicts an ever-greater percentage of the population—now about one-third.
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