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‘Big Barrels’ News Roundups

NJ Ayuk, CEO of Centurion Law Group, has been interviewed throughout the world about his new book. Here, we collect some of these interviews.

NJ Ayuk, CEO of Centurion Law Group, has been interviewed throughout the world about his new book, Big Barrels: African oil and Gas and the Quest for Prosperity. Here, we collect some of these interviews.

Big Barrels Blows Africa’s Oil Curse Myth Out Of The Water

Co-written by leading African energy lawyer and entrepreneur, NJ Ayuk, and energy analyst and editor, João Marques, Big Barrels confronts the entrenched preconception that Africa’s energy-rich countries suffer from – and are often the victims of – the effects of the “resource curse”. The reality, the book argues, could not be further from this perception.

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Energieexperte: ‘Ölförderung reicht nicht, um Afrika voranzubringen’

In einem neuen Buch stellt der prominente afrikanische Wirtschaftsanwalt NJ Ayuk dar, wie der richtige Umgang mit fossilen Rohstoffen den Kontinent nach vorne bringen könnte. Nicht alle Thesen sind unumstritten.

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Funke Michaels reviews new book “Big Barrels”

By showcasing examples of countries where the ‘Resource Curse’ is being overcome, NJ Ayuk and Joio Gaspar Marques have placed a finger right on the pulse of Africa’s future prosperity.

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Big Barrels: African Oil and Gas and the Quest for Prosperity

Big Barrels: African Oil and Gas and the Quest for Prosperity is clearly an unexpected book, from the title I thought it was going to be about the trials and tribulations of the oil industry in Africa over the past decade.

Instead, it is, in fact, a series of eight case studies about the good the bad and the ugly experiences of various countries use of energy discoveries in their economic development. The problem I had with this book was it read too much like a report that stated the facts.

I think this book would have proved more valuable to decision makers if it had included some of the reflections and insights of key African experts on each of the case studies outlined.Overall, I think this book provides a useful background briefing of some of the issues newly energy-rich countries are facing.

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Help not hinder Africa

Books on oil in Africa, even the good ones, seem unavoidably to be tales of looting and corruption, poverty and ecological degradation. Spend long enough reporting on energy in the continent and the notebook fills with tales: the minister who demanded hundreds of millions in kickbacks to let a corporate deal go ahead; the company that dumped its toxic materials in the bush thinking no one was looking. A new book*, by energy lawyer NJ Ayuk and analyst João Gaspar Marques, takes a different tack. It’s not another story of how things have gone wrong, but a gentle polemic—by way of case studies from different producer-countries—about how to make things right. It’s a refreshing approach.

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Afrika ist eine tickende Zeitbombe

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NJ Ayuk: “avec Big Barrels, j’ai voulu raconter notre histoire”

Le livre “Big Barrels: African Oil and Gas and the Quest for Prosperity” écrit par Nj Ayuk et João Marques constitue la grosse sensation de l’été africain des matières premières. En connaisseur, l’avocat qui a accompagné la Guinée Equatoriale dans son processus d’adhésion à l’OPEP aborde le secteur des hydrocarbures en s’appuyant – fait plutôt rare- sur ce qui se fait de bien dans divers pays dont le Gabon, la Guinée Equatoriale, la Tanzanie le Nigeria et le Ghana. Le diagnostic implacable dressé débouche sur des pistes d’une gestion durable des ressources, gage de paix et de prospérité. Nous avons rencontré Nj Auyk. Exclusif

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