| Transparency initiatives have taken the international extractive industries by storm, finding support amongst NGOs, IFIs, and North American and European Governments. Most transparency reforms focus primarily on exposing corruption and publishing company-state transactions. In the case of Nigeria, industry audits reveal a web of non transparency which pervades all aspects of revenue governance, and results not only from corrupt behaviour, but also due to low institutional capacity, a weak rule of law, instability, and poorly functioning federalism. Current transparency reforms are insufficient to alter the developmental path of resource abundant states. This paper reveals a confused web of causal relationships between transparency, economic growth, good governance, corruption, accountability, and the resource curse that require a holistic and experimental approach to transparency, supported by complementary initiatives. With the necessary changes, I argue that transparency reforms have the potential to positively affect development and reduce the effects of the resource curse. |
