Alex Armand will be discussing his latest research at the fourth ‘Conversations about Conflict and Violence’ being held this term. He presents work-in-progress from his ongoing project which seeks to examine the management of information and local elite behaviour following the recent discovery of a substantial natural gas reserve in Mozambique.
About the Seminar
Mozambique discovered substantial natural resources in recent years. Known gas reserves in the Rovuma basin have the potential to transform Mozambique into a global player in Liquefied Natural Gas exports. Being a recent democracy, and with relatively weak institutions, Mozambique also faces considerable risks of resource and revenue mismanagement in the future, particularly since media independence and penetration are low, and the level of political accountability is not improving.
This ongoing research project will evaluate the distribution of information about the management of the newly discovered natural gas in the Rovuma basin, and the holding of citizen meetings to deliberate on the main priorities for spending the revenues from these resources. Through the widespread provision of information about the management of natural resources in the country the resource curse can possibly be counteracted.
About the Speaker
Alex Armand is an Assistant Professor at the University of Navarra (Spain) and Faculty Fellow at the Navarra Centre for International Development. His current work focuses on the effect of providing gender-targeted cash transfers on household outcomes, especially on human capital investment, and on the effect of local community engagement on natural resource management.
During his professional career he worked on the evaluation of health and education programs in Eritrea and Eastern Europe, he consulted the World Bank and the Ministry of Social Policy in the FYR of Macedonia. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University College London.
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