Avoiding the Resource Curse: Guyana’s Big Chance

Guyana is the latest country where a major oil discovery has been made. With ExxonMobil set to begin oil production next year, the small, impoverished nation is on the path to become one of the richest in the world. But with oil production brings risk. Next door Venezuela offers a cautionary tale of the “resource curse,” a spiral of political corruption and economic mismanagement that has driven commodity-rich nations into crisis.  But it doesn’t have to happen that way.  In some places natural resource production has brought much-needed development through education, infrastructure and economic diversification. What can Guyana learn from countries that have avoided the resource curse?