“Oil extraction and poverty reduction in the Niger Delta: A critical examination of partnership initiatives” in Journal of Business Ethics 90, 91-116.
The combination of corporate-community conflicts and oil transnational corporations’ (TNCs) rhetoric about being socially responsible has meant that the issue of community development and poverty reduction have recently moved from the periphery to the heart of strategic business thinking within the Nigerian oil industry. As a result, oil TNCs have increasingly responded to this challenge by adopting partnership strategies as a means to contribute to poverty reductions in their host communities as well as secure their social licence to operate. This paper critically examines the strengths and weaknesses of the different community development partnership (CDPs) initiatives employed by Shell, Exxon Mobil and Total to contribute to poverty reduction within their host communities in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Drawing on empirical data and critical analysis, the paper argues that while the CDP initiatives by SPDC, MPN and EPNL have the potential to contribute to community development, the failure to integrate negative injunction duties into existing partnerships means that the partnerships make no difference to how oil TNCs conduct their core business operation. Consequently, CDPs have had limited positive impact on poverty reduction in the Niger Delta. The paper concludes by examining the implications of the emerging issues for partnership and poverty reduction.
Uwafiokun Idemudia is a Professor and Chair of York University’s Department of Social Science.
Other publications from this author include:
- “A club perspective of sustainability certification schemes in the tourism and hospitality industry” in Journal of Sustainable Tourism 28 (4) (2020)
- “Mining, the environment, and human rights in Ghana: An area of limited statehood perspective” in Business Strategy and Environment 29 (1) (2020)
- “Survivor’s Perceptions of Human Trafficking Rehabilitation Programs in Nigeria: Empowerment or Disempowerment” in Journal of Human Trafficking (2020)
- “Promoting Human Rights Responsibilities: The Experience in Ghana’s Gold Mining Industry” in Corporate Actors in Global Governance: Business as Usual or New Deal, 51-74 (2019)
- “Corporate social responsibility and development in Africa: Issues and possibilities,”in Geography Compass 8 (7) (2014)