Post #106

💡Resource Nationalism Index After our recent experiment, we’re launching a brand-new series of articles dedicated to evaluating how West and Central African governments are trying to make their natural resources actually work for their people and economies. Behold — the Resource Nationalism Index! Each country will be judged according to the following (entirely unscientific, but funny) criteria: 🔸 “Process It First” — Are there any bans or restrictions on the export of raw resources? 🔸 “Share With the State” — Must companies hand over part of their output to the government or make first a sale offer to state funds? 🔸 “We’re in Too!” — Are mining companies required to transfer a stake to the state or sell it to local investors? 🔸 “The Money’s Yours, the People Are Ours” — Are there mandatory local-content rules for hiring staff or contractors? 🔸 “Just Pay Up” — How heavy is the tax/levies on resource extraction? 🔸 “You Come – You Build” — Are investors obliged to fund or build infrastructure for local communities? 🔸 “We’ll Do It Ourselves” — Is there a national policy promoting domestic processing and refining? 🔸 “Come Here, You Bast*rd!” — Does the government actually control its natural resources (or at least try to stop illegal mining and rebel-run operations)? All our ratings will be, of course, purely humorous — and absolutely not investment advice.