Tuesday 12 September, the Norwegian Minsiter of Foreign Affairs will visit CMI to discuss various development challenges and its implications for Norwegian foreign policy. On the agenda are topics such as aid and poverty, peacebuilding in post-conflict areas and Norwegian foreign policy in Africa with a particular focus on corruption in emergencies, corporate social responsibility for Norwegian oil companies, and the role of courts in new democracies.

Despite the discovery of oil and gas, most countries rich in natural resources are still economically troubled and conflict-ridden. -Resources are not only tied to financial value, but also to social identity and cosmology. Current explanations of the resource curse fail to consider historical grievances and the significance of social territorialism, says John-Andrew McNeish in his newly published book Flammable Societies: Studies on the Socio-Economics of Oil and Gas.

Tanzania has recently discovered huge offshore natural gas fields. This has led the Government to develop Local Content Policies (LCPs) to increase local ...

Through the development of a series of comparative case studies in present-day Latin America, Africa, Europe and the former Soviet Union we will explore ...

This project analyses the supply chain of goods and services to the oil sector (upstream) in Norway and Angola with a particular emphasis on the extent ...

Recent significant natural gas discoveries have pushed Tanzania into the international spotlight as a new petroleum producer. How can the country ensure ...

Farouk Al-Kasim, "the Iraqi who saved Norway from oil", instrumental as he was in establishing the Norwegian Petroleum Administration and Directorate. Since 1991 he has advised developing countries on the organisation and regulation of their petroleum sector.

During the past decade, Venezuela has used revenue from the oil sector to reduce poverty and foster social development. Questions of social inequalities are high up on the political agenda, says Iselin Åsedotter Strønen.

A travel through the richest oil countries in the world and an analysis of Caspian energy politics.

- Policy makers and their decisions matter much more than a supposed resource curse, says Ricardo Soares de Oliveira. As East Africa booms with oil, he urges international actors and donors to repoliticise the international reform and financial agenda.

Sudan has undertaken decentralization reforms since the early 1990s, in a federal government system with three tiers: federal, state, and local government ...

Oil exploration in the developing world has been and continues to be a high profile and high risk activity attracting media coverage and stimulating much ...

There are a number of "social funds" in Angola, and other social projects financed and managed by private and foreign actors. International ...

Angola suffers from gross inequality, widespread poverty and a reputation for authoritarianism and corruption. However, this does not scare off foreign investors. The former Portuguese colony is enormously rich in natural resources, and is a main destination for Norwegian investments in Africa.

The impact of the oil and gas industry – paradoxically seen both as a blessing and a curse on socio-economic development – is a question at ...

Large-scale mining of minerals and metals are threatening protected areas, and corruption is often to blame. International donors must engage with governments, ...

Norad has been engaged in capacity building and provision of technical support to the Afghan Ministry of Mines since 2007. A part of this engagement relates ...

The Angolan government has put much emphasis on rehabilitating and expanding the country’s transport infrastructure. Assisted by oil revenues, foreign ...

Large-scale mining of minerals and metals are threatening protected areas, and corruption is often to blame. International donors must engage with governments, ...

(You can also read the most important points in this publication in our blog: Steps to limit the endemic corruption around junior mining companies) This ...