Sub-Saharan Africa is in the midst of an oil boom. The revenues available to reduce poverty in this context are huge, says a new report from Catholic Relief Services (CRS), who estimate that governments will receive over $200 billion in oil revenues over the next decade, enabling them to invest in health, education and other vital necessities. The dramatic development failures that have characterized most other oil-dependent countries around the world, though, warn that petrodollars have not helped developing countries to reduce poverty; in many cases, they have actually exacerbated it. Without improving their democratic institutions and administrative capacity, it is unlikely that Africa's oil exporters will be able to use petrodollars to fuel poverty reduction.