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In this article, we analyse the factors underpinning the shift towards hybrid security governance in Africa. Extant scholarship largely attributes this shift to broader global processes, such as histories of colonialism, neoliberalism and transformations in global governance, which have served to legitimize the role of private authority in security provision around sites of resource extraction. Our analysis seeks to understand the relative and relational influence of power and rules in international politics by offering empirical insights about what hybrid security arrangements look like 'on the ground'. Drawing upon recently conducted fieldwork in Kenya, Uganda and Ghana, we examine how hybrid security arrangements affect the lives of those living near sites of natural resource extraction. Our analyses suggest that although hybrid security has emerged as the leading approach to security governance, this approach to security does not uniformly involve or serve the interests of all stakeholders. Rather, we find that hybrid security arrangements aid the security of extractive operations—securing investments in both physical and human capital—while sometimes undermining the security of nearby communities.

The consequences of foreign direct investment (FDI) for human rights protection are poorly understood. We propose that the impact of FDI varies across industries. In particular, extractive firms in the oil and mining industries go where the resources are located and are bound to such investment, which creates a status quo bias among them when it comes to supporting repressive rulers ("location-bound effect"). The same is not true for non-extractive MNCs in manufacturing or services, which can, in comparison, exit problematic countries more easily. We also propose that strong democratic institutions can alleviate negative impacts of extractive FDI on human rights ("democratic safeguard effect"). Using US FDI broken up into extractive and non-extractive industries in 157 host countries (1999-2015), we find support for these propositions. Extractive FDI is associated with more human rights abuse, but non-extractive FDI is associated with less abuse, after controlling for other factors, including concerns about endogeneity. We find also that the negative human rights impact of extractive FDI vanishes in countries where democratic institutions are stronger. Our results are robust to a range of alternative estimation techniques.

China's engagement in South America and Africa's extractive sectors has increased significantly in the last decade. How comparable are the African and South American cases from a developmental perspective? This article explores resource curse theories, arguing that the 'curses' often associated to extraction are historically produced dynamic processes that need to be reevaluated in light of China's direct and indirect impacts on resource-endowed countries. It elaborates a framework to compare the developmental dynamics entailed by China's involvement in the South American and African extractive sectors, distinguishing between external, internal and intrinsic 'curses'. The article holds that China's growth and investment have strengthened the position of resource-endowed countries in the international economy, revitalizing resource industries and improving terms of trade for commodities. Concurrently, the expansion of extractive activities has brought about increased environmental and economic sustainability challenges. Divergences between the African and South American cases are best observed at the national levels, where China's non-interventionist approach has different developmental implications depending on internal trends within investment host countries. (Pac Rev/GIGA)

African countries have been active in concluding international investment treaties. They are increasingly subject to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases, including claims that challenge regulatory actions of host countries in a wide range of areas, including public services and race relations. At the same time, African States have developed the 'Africa Mining Vision', which is aimed at introducing policy and regulatory frameworks intended to maximize the development of the region through the use of natural resources as catalyst for industrial development in order to diversify the economy. This paper discusses the potential challenges that could arise out of rules established by international investment treaties and ISDS to policy space in African countries and the operationalization of the 'Africa Mining Vision'. It provides an overview of the rising number of ISDS cases in the mining and extractive industries, including cases brought against African countries. It also reviews how investment treaties are increasingly imposing a wider net of prohibitions around performance requirements, which could potentially be crucial for the operationalization of the 'Africa Mining Vision'. The paper concludes that in the case of African countries, similar to other developing countries, the expansion of international investment agreements could carry significant risks to policy space and policy tools necessary for industrialization and development. In the case of African countries, this implies risks to the potential use of sectoral policies, such as policies in the extractive industries and the 'Africa Mining Vision', in order to support and promote African countries' industrialization objectives.

Suriname is a small economy driven by its abundant natural resources. As the commodity boom ended in recent years, however, the economy began to contract, reflecting Suriname's dependence on the extractives sector. The Government of Suriname redistributes revenue earned from gold, oil, and bauxite through significant public sector employment. This report seeks to inform the Government of Suriname about strategies to diversify the economy, with a focus on increasing private investment and removing constraints to competitiveness in agriculture and extractives. This report provides policy recommendations to guide the Government of Suriname in its efforts to create an enabling environment that facilitates new investment and increased competitiveness in agriculture and extractives. This report presents the findings of an agribusiness sector scan to identify subsectors with high potential for investment attraction. This report analyzes the enabling environment for the extractives sector to identify options to attract new investment while at the same time better governing the extractive industries to achieve more positive and sustainable benefits for the economy and people of Suriname.

Since the election of the left-leaning leaders Morales in Bolivia and Correa in Ecuador, there have been highly contested changes regarding the role of the state in the extractive industries of these countries. While the content of these changes differ and have manifested themselves over different timescales and political approaches, they fall within the context of the politically charged and equivocal rubric of 'nationalisation'. In both countries the place of extractive industries in socioeconomic development has been acknowledged as central to understanding the nature of the ongoing changes. While the existing literature has made sweeping generalisations about the character of these new regimes, this chapter aims to bring an empirically grounded analysis of the transformation of property rights structures associated with nationalisation in the extractive sectors of Bolivia and Ecuador. Focusing primarily on the minerals sector, the chapter demonstrates that there have been shifts and swings in the property rights regimes of both countries at the 'operational level'. While these changes have indeed strengthened the role of the state, hence conforming to our definition of nationalisation, the most significant changes relate to changes in property rights at the level of 'collective-choice' rights that concern the future shape of development in these two countries.

AbstractThis article is about how UK‐based transnational corporations source expertise and move highly skilled people among their sites. TNCs rely heavily on their internal labour markets for skills. We examine patterns and trends in the ways that TNCs in two sectors, aerospace and extractives, dynamically orchestrate and deploy their networks of expertise internationally to address the demands of different markets. We chart the types of mobility that exist, identify how and why they are used, and explore some of the institutional, industrial, organizational and technological factors that influence these trends. We show that different types of mobility play distinct roles in organizations. Companies respond to mobility calls from diverse stimuli by linking together mobility options into portfolios of moves that represent negotiated responses to industrial and individual requirements.