For Better or For Worse

Why rising oil prices is good for the Third World. From AFP:
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Rising prices for crude oil could inject some 15 billion dollars (12.3 billion euros) into the coffers of African oil producers, helping them to diversify their economies and lift their populations from poverty, International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo de Rato said Thursday.

"It will be a chance for (African oil producers) to attain a new development objective and ensure an effective use of their resources in a medium-term strategy," de Rato told reporters in Ouagadougou, where he attended a two-day African Union anti-poverty summit.

Increased oil revenues will help "stabilize funds, reduce debt and increase funding for social and industrial programs that will attract investment," he added.

Surging prices on global oil markets have been a godsend for African exporters such as Gabon, Algeria and mighty Nigeria, which produces the bulk of Africa's crude.
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Er, make that, why rising oil prices MIGHT be good for the Third World:

But the consequences for the rest of the continent, where more than one-third of the population lives in extreme poverty, have been disasterous, resulting in higher prices at the pump and for other refined petroleum products.

And while in theory higher revenues from crude mean greater income for oil producing nations, the reality of oil production in Africa means that multinational corporations such as ExxonMobil, Shell and Halliburton reap the largesse, not the countries themselves.