Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Natural Resource Governance in Africa provides a comprehensive analysis of African natural resource governance, stretching across the continent, and encompassing water, land, extractive resources, and mining. Africa’s natural resources are not only crucial for the continent from an economic, environmental, and political perspective, but they are also of significant geopolitical importance, with direct implication for meeting the global challenges outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals. Whether an abundance of natural resources proves to be a curse or a blessing depends on the nature, extent, and outcome of the effort and experience of an individual country in governing and managing such assets. It is with this in mind that this ground-breaking handbook brings together experts from across the field of natural resource development to reflect on the varied regime types and paradigms within the continent’s natural resource sectors, the specific challenges they face, and their role within global value chains. The book first considers governance for sustainable development and discourses of land and development financing, before going on to investigate the regulatory and policy impacts, and socioeconomic implications of natural resource management. Finally, the Handbook situates the African continent within the emerging global energy transition; examining trends in South-South cooperation, and new frontiers for the harnessing of critical tools in a sustainable future for natural resource governance and management. Overall, the Handbook’s in-depth analysis provides a unique blend of realism and optimism, highlighting the importance of building a new sustainable African resource narrative for shared prosperity. The handbook will be an essential read for researchers and policy makers with an interest in sustainable development and natural resource governance in Africa.