ABSTRACT
This study seeks to investigate the resilience of energy black market in the Gulf of Guinea. The objective of the study is carried out in a theoretical elucidation grounded in qualitative empirical research. The study argues that the regional ‘black’ market of the trivet of crude oil theft, petro-piracy and illegal trade in fuel is an organised business crime; a well-structured illegal enterprise which thrives on inadequate energy infrastructure and corruption in the region. The key ingredients, processes and institutions of the ‘black’ economy are constructed within socio-economic networks, exist in an overlap, and operate in a constantly mutating crime environment. The study concludes that business–network–environment nexus of crime provides a justifiable explanation for the elasticity of the crude economy in the Gulf of Guinea, with the enterprise’s socio-economic infrastructure enhancing its susceptibility as much as it reinforces its resilience and should be the fulcrum of targeted measures.
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Wasiu A. Balogun
Wasiu A. Balogun, a PhD graduate of International Relations from the University of Lancaster, Lancaster, United Kingdom, specializes in energy and maritime security in Africa. He holds a Master of Energy Studies (Energy and the Environment) from the Centre for Energy Petroleum Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP), University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, a Master of International Relations from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria and a B.A in History and Diplomatic Studies from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria. He is currently enrolled on the MSc Port and Terminal Management at Lamar University, USA.