Many developing countries suffer from the same malaise, i.e. the paradox of plenty, where abundant endowments of natural resources, including minerals, are not translated into equivalent levels of prosperity, broad-based development and  resource-based industrialization. In the latest issue of our Global Governance Spotlight series the author Antonio M.A. Pedro describes the tension between the need to maximize the development outcomes of the extractive industry in benefit of host countries and the profit motivation of mining investors. He then analyses different approaches of greater value addition of mineral resources and calls especially the European Union to support these efforts.