ERHC Energy Inc (ERHE)

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Nigeria, Sao-Tome: A bilaterial cooperation and integration that works
Komolafe Rasheed, Lagos.


President Umar Musa Yar’Adua

The Joint development Zone JDZ which is today blazing a revolutionary trait towards the attainment of regional co-operation and integration through the development of the natural and economic resources is a product of extensive negotiations and consultation between the government of the Federal Government and the Democratic Republic of Sao-Tome and Principe (DRSTP). What initially began as a maritime boundary dispute that proved grave to the peaceful co-existence of the two countries following claims and counter claims on the area of overlapping maritime boundaries of the two countries reached a consensus to jointly pursue the exploitation of the natural resources and the development of the area overlapping the contentious maritime boundary.


The JDZ which is seven years old since the signing of the treaty establishing it and six years after the inauguration of the JDZ is undoubtedly one of the few functional joint development zones in Africa and indeed the world. As a result of the tremendous gains that have been made through the harnessing of the hydrocarbon resources for the mutual economic benefits of the two countries, the JDZ has, within the short period of its existence, come to epitomize to the world, a unique model for inter-regional cooperation, social integration and national economic development.