‘Africa Counts’ round table forum: natural resources and poverty eradication

The Africa hub is hosting a series of events in East Africa to generate debate on how improved resource allocation can eradicate extreme and chronic poverty. The first round table forum – ‘Doom or Prosperity: What does the discovery of oil and gas in East Africa mean for the region’s poorest?’ kicks off at 15:30hrs on Tuesday 3 July at the Hilton Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.

Despite reasonable economic growth in the last 10 years, the region still exhibits considerable levels of extreme and persistent poverty. The lack of funds available for anti-poverty programmes has been blamed for the failure of the respective governments to act effectively. There are now new opportunities in the air. The recent discovery of oil and natural gas in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya is bound to profoundly affect the respective countries income (and hence the entire region). Along with this comes the increased attention that the region is likely to receive as a preferred destination for foreign direct investment and other resource flows. The potential that these changes could have for cross country trade, regional growth, poverty reduction and intraregional interrelations could be significant.

The multi-stakeholder forum aims to stimulate honest and constructive dialogue around this issue.  The hope is that it will lead to the co-production of evidence -based and inclusive policy messages and briefs. Key to this agenda is that they are able to influence the way that resources from natural resources extraction contribute to the eradication of extreme and chronic poverty in Eastern Africa.

A diverse range of panellists and participants from the government, media and civil society will take part in the discussions. Participation is free, so if you would like to join in the debate please contact Kenn Okwaroh at Kenn.Okwaroh@devinit.org or alternatively sign up online here.