Resource Based Conflict in Africa: a Case of Oil in South Sudan

Abstract

“Natural resources such as oil are the main sources of revenue to the countries in which they are located and at the same time as the root causes of conflict if not properly managed. As such research on resource based conflict in Africa is vital. This is particularly so since oil continues to generate new conflicts in the continent every now and then. The main objective of this study is to examine the reasons why the present of the natural resources such as oil has been seen as the main drivers of violent conflict to some African oil producing Countries, and to explore the role and effort of political elites to address the oil-based conflict in South Sudan. The specific objectives are to: examine the root causes of resources- based- conflict in Africa; investigate the connection between oil production and conflict in South Sudan; examine the role of the political elites in the oil-based -conflict in South Sudan and; analyze the various efforts to address the oil-based conflict in South Sudan. The two hypotheses guiding the study are: there is a relationship between oil production and conflicts in South Sudan and; there is a relationship between the influence of political elites and oil-based conflicts in South Sudan. This study is based on the resource curse theory and shall adopt mixed research survey design. It focuses on 15 main oil exploration companies with headquarters in Juba. Data will be collected from managerial level employees of these companies, as such, 2 managers per company will be targeted. This makes a total of 30 managers. In addition, data shall also be collected from employees of the ministry of petroleum and mining of the South Sudan national government. In this regard, 10 employees of the ministry shall be targeted. As such, the total respondents shall be 40 persons purposively sampled.. In addition secondary data on oil-base conflicts from former studies shall also be systematically reviewed. This shall include data from Nigeria, Angola and South Sudan among others countries. In this regard, only studies undertaken in the last five years (2013 to 2018) shall be considered. Data generated by the questionnaire will be analyzed using both descriptive statistics. Data from the open ended questions will be analyzed thematically. This study will be organized into six chapters. Chapter one provides the Introduction and background to the study. Chapter two, examine the root causes of resources- based- conflict in Africa; Chapter three investigate the connection between oil production and conflict in South Sudan; chapter four examine the role of the political elites in the oil-based -conflict in South Sudan while chapter five shall analyze the various efforts to address the oil-based conflict in South Sudan. Lastly, chapter six will present the Summary, Conclusion and the recommendations