In 1995, Qatar had an $8 billion economy. Today, it has a gross domestic product of $174 billion.

Thank you, natural gas.

Powerful people in other countries, like Mongolia, are looking to Qatar as an inspiration,  a goal to reach for their own nations.

But not every resource-rich country with a small local population can become an economic powerhouse like Qatar, an article in the Financial Times has asserted.

The aspiration to turn Mongolia into a Qatar is admirable, the likelihood of it becoming Nigeria not negligible. Certainly, Mongolia’s tiny population – in an area three times that of France – should help. But think about it. A country with fragile institutions and a GDP per capita of $3,000 is about to be hosed with billions of dollars. What could possibly go wrong?

A lot, if Mongolia doesn’t get its “governance, equity, economic management and geopolitical strategy” straight.

Which is not to say that Qatar has it all right.

If anything, the past few days have pointed out that money simply can’t buy everything, especially safety.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Masroor Saleem