The environmental impact is also alarming. The clearing of forests for timber exports increases vulnerability to erosion, river silting, landslides, flooding and loss of habitat for plant and animal species. Gas flaring from oil production, where unusable waste gas is burned off, pumps large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It is estimated that flaring in the Niger delta emits 70m tonnes of CO2 a year. (To put this into context, Sweden emitted 69.9m tonnes of CO2 in 2004.) These flares have contributed more greenhouse gases than all of sub-Saharan Africa combined, according to the World Bank. The environmental and social impact of extractive industries is already acknowledged as a key factor in conflicts in Sudan and Nigeria. There is a fear among NGOs that access to natural resources will fuel the kind of violent conflict seen recently in Sierra Leone, the DRC and Liberia. The global demand for natural resources will bring benefits such as FDI, increased exports and good balance of trade figures for Africa. But what kind of cloud accompanies this silver lining? One of the main concerns is that the scramble for Africa is fuelling corruption, environmental degradation and internal dissent. Salil Tripathi, senior policy adviser at peacebuilding NGO International Alert, says: "Unless properly managed, the windfall gains from resource extraction cause more problems. It reduces a state's incentive to impose a free and just taxation system, and encourages corruption and acquisition of weaponry." Those problems include human rights abuses, which the great powers scrambling for African resources seem happy to tolerate. In Equatorial Guinea - where US companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron are active - president Teodoro Obiang Nguema has been heavily criticised over torture, electoral fraud and corruption. Despite this, he was welcomed at the US State Department by the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, in April last year and described as a "good friend".
The environmental impact is also alarming. clearing of forests for timber exports increases erosion, river silting, landslides, flooding and loss of habitat for plant and animal species. Gas flaring from oil production, where unusable waste gas is burned off, pumps large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. These flares have contributed more greenhouse gases than all of sub-Saharan Africa combined, according to the World Bank. the scramble for Africa is fuelling corruption, environmental degradation and internal dissent. encourages corruption and acquisition of weaponry. problems include human rights abuses Chevron has been heavily criticised over torture, electoral fraud and corruption