It's called the Dutch disease for a reason. When Holland discovered large natural gas deposits the entire rest of their economy became less competitive. High wa

It's called the Dutch disease for a reason. When Holland discovered large natural gas deposits the entire rest of their economy became less competitive. High wages from natural resources (and oil is the worst for this because it is so valuable) raise wages in the rest of the economy. This makes your exports less competitive. It also shifts employment into the natural resources sector (due to high wages), when many of those people would maybe be better allocated elsewhere. They only country that has been able to do what you're talking about successfully is Norway and maybe the US and Canada, which have much better institutions than anywhere in Africa and the Middle East.