No Oil Yet, But African Isle Finds Slippery Dealings

A decade ago, geologists found signs that one of Africa’s least-known countries, the tiny island nation of Sao Tome and Principe, might hold a king’s ransom in oil.

The first drop of oil has yet to be produced. But these days, little Sao Tome may have attracted ample supplies of something else, federal investigators suspect – oil-related corruption.

All of this might not seem unusual in Africa, where oil and corruption often go hand in hand. However, Sao Tome, a former Portuguese colony off the coast of Nigeria, was supposed to be different. In recent years, a steady stream of activists like the Columbia University economist Jeffrey D. Sachs have gone there to try to make sure that any energy boom would benefit its 150,000 people, rather than politicians and companies.

“Oil can be a blessing or a bane for a country,” Mr. Sachs said. “The theory was to help Sao Tome avoid the resource curse.”

Things, however, have not quite worked out that way.

allAfrica.com