The extractive industries in the developing world: dilemmas and opportunities

Tony Addison discussed how oil, gas and mining remain important for low-income and middle-income countries as sources of public revenue and foreign exchange. Many developing countries still see opportunities in oil, gas and coal, not only for revenues but also to serve their growing domestic energy and transport needs. At the same time, the extractive industries are big emitters (especially so in the case of fossil fuels) and they can cause serious environmental damage which undermines other sources of livelihood. Further, the sector still has a high prevalence of non-transparency and corruption.

This engaging dialogue includes a discussion with Joakim Wohlfeil (Senior Advisor, Conflict and Justice, Diakonia), with opening and closing remarks by Janet Vähämäki (Director, SweDev Secretariat).

Agenda

• Welcome remarks from Janet Vähämäki
• Keynote presentation by Tony Addison
• Discussion with Joakim Wohlfeil
• Interactive Q&A session
• Closing remarks from Janet Vähämäki

About Tony Addison

Tony Addison is a distinguished Professor of Economics at University of Copenhagen and a Senior Research Fellow at UNU-Wider. He was previously Chief Economist and Deputy Director of UNU-WIDER in Helsinki, Finland and used to work as the Executive Director of the Brooks World Poverty Institute (BWPI).

Dialogues on Development Research

This dialogue is part of SEI’s and SweDev’s dialogue series on development research. The aim of the dialogues on development research is to spread the findings of development research. The dialogues serve as a platform for researchers to share their work in an informal and public manner. The dialogue series target researchers, practitioners and policymakers within the field of development research.