Topic: Helpful mineral resources (Read 728 times)

And the greatest tragedy is that the more time passes in which this situation is not corrected the more difficult it becomes to try to do it, as the world does not wait for anyone so the gap between the African continent and the rest is only growing wider as more technologies are discovered and implemented, so unless there is a change on the policies of most of those countries they could get to a point in which getting on equal ground may be impossible even if they finally decide to try to change things up.

There is so much corruption can do to you and it is as well taking a great turn in the social and political life’s of the African continent as a whole. Despite the wealth in human and natural resources, the continent remains one of the poorest due to an ideology that pushes everyone to seek means of getting individual wealth to keep not just for themselves but for there generations. In this, the idea of a poor Africa is established and they never believe it could get better so they don’t put much effort to make things better than the way they met it. Having stakes in all the mismanagement of funds and diversion of resources.

Virtually all military conflicts today - under various pretexts - are due to the redistribution of resources. Fresh water reserves are running out, mines are being depleted, etc. Yes, officially we are told that everything is wonderful, but the reality is probably far from ideal. Life often brings surprises

This is heartbreaking because lots of people especially children are affected by the worse situation of poverty in the said country. Many has been suffering due to hunger and lack of food despite the existence of the natural resources in these countries because the leaders who are supposed to keep the foundation of their economic situation firm, are making the situation worse for them
Corruption could really ruin and hinder the economic growth of each country. If these corrupt officials will continue with their wrong doings, they will surely face downfall in the future.
I hope corruption would end for them soon so people especially the younger generation could live in peace.

This is one of the reason there is conflict in country like Niger because there politicians are very corrupt and mismanaging the economy in an appropriate way. Many African countries are corrupt that is why they keep depending the West for aids and palliatives. The African countries have what it take to make the whole continent sufficient with enough natural resources. I hope different countries in Africa will get to understand the value of what they have and not mismanage there resources in a way the will keep there region in poverty.

Supposedly with so many natural resources owned by African countries it can bring prosperity to all the people there, but unfortunately it didn't go well and there are still many people suffering in poverty when we read the news there. It's the same as my country which has abundant natural products, but people's lives in general are far from prosperous. To be honest, the government mismanaged and they have never been able to create prosperity for their people and that is why even though natural products are abundant people are still living on the poverty line.

Just imagine owning oil and exporting it overseas to be processed and re-imported to be sold at high prices in the oil-producing countries themselves. Whereas when the oil is processed in the country itself, it will generate jobs for local residents and can be sold at a more affordable price. The rest can be exported as refined oil to other countries, so that the country's income can be greater and prosperity can be created for a much larger percentage.

Having a mineral resources doesn't guarantee that you will have the capacity to refined them to the finish products but a country who has smart politicians will not depends on exportation forever, they are supposed to sell for a particular time, generate the revenue and to improve the country and increase their target reserves so that with time, they will build one of the company to refine the natural resources for exportation and make the same money they are giving out to import this products. However, when corruption becomes the first thing politicians value the most, the country continue to borrow even with the available natural resources they have in aboundant, it crazy and pitiful to see a country suffer high rate of poverty even when they are swimming inside wealth of God gifts.

Since Africa is a country rich in natural resources with 40 percent of the world's gold and up to 90 percent of its chromium and platinum. The largest reserves of cobalt, diamonds, platinum and uranium in the world are in Africa. If Africans people are able to take advantage of this resources then they will be in better condition. African continent is blessed with minerals and natural resources that's why African governments should think about how to extract the natural resources. Then they don't have to depend upon other country and Africa can improve the welfare of its citizens.

Natural resources in developing countries are usually managed by developed countries or corrupt government companies, this also happens in my country because natural products are managed by many foreign companies or government companies but the annual report always says loss and continue.

Well, though the government is not obliged to provide the resources to individuals but the money that they can make through them can be used for the development of the country and the well-being of the people living in that country, so it ultimately is to provide useful stuff to their citizens. Countries that lack the necessary technologies and tools to extract and process those minerals and resources tend to make contracts with other countries which makes them lose control over the resources.

You are right that education is important but education can only work in such a situation if it has been worked upon in the past, and maybe if leaders are educated and wise, they won't ask other countries to come and take out the minerals and pay them a commission in return but just borrow some money to buy the equipment to do everything and then repay the loans.

I think the situation is changing after what happened recently in Niger and Burkina Faso. In both countries, a military coup took place to seize power from those who say they are agents of the West to steal the country's resources. The new leaders of both countries stopped all agreements with France and forced its citizens to leave. What is interesting about these facts is that France, along with other Western countries, depends on the two countries' resources of gold, nickel, uranium and other minerals. This explains the call of those countries for military intervention to protect their interests, which apparently cannot be compensated for by other sources.
This is in addition to the countries allied to Russia, who are in the process of stopping cooperation with Western countries that have been draining their resources for centuries.

It is not really a conspiracy theory, it makes sense for countries to want to buy commodities for the cheapest price possible and through history we have seen whole countries being subjugated in order to fulfill this goal, so it would be silly to think that somehow this behavior stopped during the 20th century and beyond, it is just the methods used now are more subtle but it is still possible to achieve the same results, and when you add inept and corrupt politicians to the mix then it is easy to explain why the African continent despite its resources remains behind other continents.

Without education a person is blind and one does not have any idea that how to handle these resources and how to provide these resources to every individual of country.

For managing such activities it is necessary that the leader of a country should be educated. Although some people are brilliant without education but brilliant individual with education is better than brilliant individual without education. Some countries does not have any technology to make actual use of resources and introduction of technologies are greatly related with educated people.

That is the hope of everyone in the third state, including my country which still lacks human resources but has natural resources that are complex enough to support people's welfare, but with a lack of human resources to utilize natural resources is very difficult, they are forced to sell it to other countries to gain profits and meet the state budget. There are so many cases of the use of natural resources in my country that are binding with other countries which are utilized without giving my country great benefits.
For example in the case of nickel, the ban on nickel exports caused chaos with European countries because they used to buy raw nickel from my country, then when it stopped, the European Union reported to the WTO because my country no longer wanted to export raw goods because it wanted to produce it itself so that it would have more value. in selling out, but they seem to be tormented by this decision and my country is under threat.

Corruption has eaten African countries deeply to the point the military is now doing coups up and down and that scares me, and as much as there is a high level of stealing and theft in democracy, I don't like to be ruled by a military government, this madness is already spread within West African countries; I believe in democracy because it has worked for the west if its properly manage here with everyone following the rule, it will prosper in the Africa horizon as well, we should encourage impunity and discourage dictatorship, I don't pray to wake up one day and see a gun pointed on my head for violation that the court can penalize me for, that's gonna be hell for everyone.

Furthermore, colonialism has been a form of a parasitic relationship between African countries and the West, they benefit more from Africa than the way they benefit from us but let us not lie to ourselves, we need allies and friends to stay ahead of others, any African country that thinks they will hate the west because of their greed is doing so to hurt its people, we need each other to survive the heat periods, we need the west for development because they are ahead of Africans by innovations and creativities, and in return, they also need the resources around us but then it has to be a mutual relationship instead of the usual over dependency on each other.

I couldn't agree more. This kind of system that you stated is a good way to keep most of the resources in the country but also create opportunities to produce goods with fair rates locally. Moreover, it also opens ways and opportunities for work which essentially helps the economy of the country. It is a good way to preserve and give much value to local mineral resources.

this is where the role of human resources must be corrected, currently the government in my country has started to prohibit exports in the form of raw materials to other countries, but at least it is processed in my country that way besides increasing selling prices, it will also absorb labor and we can learn to process it ourselves, so that finally when the contract is over we can fully control natural wealth and process it ourselves to sell it in the form of finished goods. that way there will be many benefits for the country including the welfare of the people

Multinational firms, governments, and often a mix of the two are common proprietors in Africa's extractive industries. However, because of complex subcontractor, intermediary, and third party networks, determining the final beneficiaries can be difficult

Royalties and corporate income taxes are common components of the taxation of the extraction of natural resources. Public services and infrastructure should theoretically be supported by these levies, but in practice, these monies may be misused or mismanaged

The ratio of state-owned to privately owned businesses varies widely, both between countries and commodities. It is rarely easy to assign a precise percentage because of the convoluted nature of the legal and financial systems involved

The worth of these materials is mostly established by global markets. The value upon extraction, however, is generally much lower than the final market price because of the value gained during processing and refining

After being refined, the value of some materials can soar. However, most African countries lack the infrastructure to fully process these resources, causing them to miss out on substantial economic prospects.

I dont think that in the minerals that could help the Philippines might increase the price or it could help, most of the minerals here is the marbles, those are commonly used for the structures we are using, next is the under the cave stones you can find in the upper side or even the under of the caves but those are preserve by the government and few gold you can find here but those really destroy the beauty of the Philippines reason why most of the miners now prevented by the government.

I couldn't agree more. Same goes for my country. Despite being rich of these resources we often export them to be used by other countries for their product and then will be imported back here and be sold with a high rate. Once you asked why it is expensive they will tell you that it is because of the rare products used to make it, then you'll realized the said products is locally found and there are a lot of them. Typical import and export system.

They should be free like you said a lot of minerals meaning your country could be independent. But the truth is the rich mineral countries will always in the end of the list just like my countries Indonesia also had lot of mineral including oil and gas also the biggest nickel in the world. But the raw material always goes outside and when it becomes a finished good it goes to indonesia back.

Africa can be great again. They just need to act smarter and wiser. The problem is the  the leadership who does not make good use of the abundance  resources that God has blessed the continent with.

the solution is simple:

• leadership should be elected and not selected
• positions of appointment should be given to the most qualified, and not the relatives of those in power
• opportunities should be given to creativity and just Rigidity in processes
• there should be reduction in the amount for useless tasking system that discourages entrepreneurs

even though it has abundant natural resources, but cannot process or use it properly, it will be in vain, or it could be worse if the government in power is not clean, then it will only become a source of personal wealth managed by other countries. therefore the level of education is very important to be able to utilize natural resources so that they can be useful for the prosperity of the community. the same is the case in my country with a corrupt government that makes people suffer, especially since foreigners control these natural resources with the permission of the government

Africa has a lot of natural resources, if the country's government can maintain those resources, then surely the countries can develop them. We have seen that in many countries, due to their natural resources, they have advanced economically by extracting the resources and maintaining them. Although Africa has a lot of natural resources, if they can exploit them, they can certainly grow economically. But despite having so much mineral resources in Africa, they cannot extract them for which African countries are yet to develop economically. So in the future, if Africa can extract their natural resources and export them to different countries, then maybe they will be able to move forward economically.

Indeed, resources in Africa are indeed abundant and it would be a shame if they were not managed properly. But the problem, in my opinion, is that Africans lack knowledge and only focus on working to provide for their families. So they ignore education, even though education is very important. If they had knowledge, they would definitely be able to make excellent use of resources.

Perhaps these resources which is supposed to be a blessing has turned out to be a curse instead. It has turned the hearts of both leaders and citizens to an acquire when you’ve got the chance, creating an over dependency on a particular resource or discovers mineral and as such, competing with other parts of the world that sort ways to better the life’s of its citizens and there country goes in vain.

This ought not to be. Africa already have these resources, are well aware of its potential but still, greed don’t allow its leaders to give the nations a hearing. A heading that acknowledges that resources this finishes and it takes over a million years to form which would be far from when we are gone.
Hence, having other resources fullness is a necessity for growth.

A couple more questions about the resources of African countries:
1. Who owns (ultimate beneficiaries of) extractive mines
2. What is the taxation of natural resource extraction? And how are these taxes distributed for the welfare of the population of these countries?
3. What percentage of state-owned companies or private LOCAL companies own natural resource extraction?
4. What is the value (selectively who has information about what) of extracted natural resources, and their real price on the world market ?
5. Are there such resources among the extracted resources, which, when processed, form a high added value?

That's tough, but a proper diagnosis is the first step to recovery, right? It's fantastic to see someone who understands our continent's serious challenges.  Why not change things? Instead than relying on the past, let's go forward. The US, China, and other powerful nations are not slave masters. Instead, we may leverage their relationships. Climate change is forcing us to reassess resource consumption, but we shouldn't give up our abundant physical wealth. Instead, we can demonstrate that Mother Nature can be exploited sustainably to produce money.

The trouble with Africa is that corruption has been deeply ingrained for many centuries and now the leaders are currently composed of those who could play the dirtiest game. Naturally corruption filters downwards as well and like a disease it spreads through the whole ecosystem. It takes strong institutions and judiciary, which take decades and centuries to build, to create any independent thought or opposition. Unfortunately at the moment any potential wealth will be squeezed into the hands of the few.

I agree with your points specifically the colonialism. Even in the mindset of the people, it is relatively hard to take away from. Perhaps it truly has to do with our dependency on the countries that once colonized us. Even in my country now, despite stating that we are free from colonization from any country it is evident that US have a great grasp on us and our governmental decisions. I'm sure the decisions for our mineral resources (which is rich in our country) is also dependent on what the US and China thinks of it.

I'm all for the development and prosperity of African countries, but it's not an easy road. First, there's corruption and violence, both of which need to significantly be tuned down for progress. Then there's the impact of colonialism which you've mentioned, and it's unfortunately hard to escape it because economic dependency is still strong. Finally, the world is starting to move away from the exploitation of natural resources toward more sustainable activities because of climate change, so I think that it's not a good time to start working on building economies around minerals and stuff.

This is the unfortunate reality. A lot of country are rich with mineral resources, but are not being managed correctly but their governments. The opportunities and help these minerals have are left dormant as majority of the people only sees these minerals as another source of income, nothing more and nothing less. However, it is good to know that there is at least some good progress regarding this.

Simply said, this is it. Although in reality this may not be as simple as this. It's probably a bit complicated really. But the fact remains that Africans are mostly exploited by foreign companies and more powerful countries for centuries already. Sadly, many leaders in the continent are all too willing to be complicit in the subjugation of the African people for their own personal benefit.

I risk sounding like a believer of conspiracy theories, but I kind of agree that there is this ulterior desire to keep the African people from becoming truly independent and empowered because that would then deprive the external powers of control over vast amount of resources. For what then is the ultimate reason that for centuries the African continent remains poor despite having "40 percent of the world's gold," "90 percent of its chromium and platinum," "largest reserves of cobalt, diamonds, platinum and uranium," "65 per cent of the world's arable land," and "ten percent of the planet's internal renewable fresh water source"?^[1]

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[1] https://www.unep.org/regions/africa/our-work-africa

The land of Africa is known for its abundant resources, Africa should be an advanced and more developed region with the resources that God has given them. It needs competent handling from the government to empower the resources they have, at least they have to process these resources so that they are more independent and able to overcome financial problems in terms of debt.

African governments must learn from Switzerland in terms of managing resources that can boost their economies. Switzerland is known as one of the best chocolate-producing European countries in the world, the climate in Switzerland is not suitable for growing cacao trees, even so they managed to find a way to produce quality chocolate. Switzerland can take advantage of resources from other countries to produce a quality product, while Africa is blessed with various kinds of resources, but people still cannot enjoy the natural wealth produced in their homeland.

It is the same with what happened in my country, we have gold, uranium, natural gas, and many other minerals on our soil, but it has been ignored and missmanaged for a long time. But I think it's getting better the, the government started to know how make a good use of it, the problem now is that it only benefit the oligarch, not the whole people.

This is going to be difficult, not only because of what I have already explained above but also because Africa as a continent has huge potential, however if that potential was realized then suddenly all of those resources which are sold for cheap will instead remain at Africa, then they will be transformed into technology and sold at many times above their value, while at the same time many companies and jobs will move there, increasing the pressure for manufacturing countries even further, something they obviously do not want. 

Venezuela is also insanely rich country in resources, but like in many countries of africa, corruption renders them useless. This is why i often wonder why many crypto currency enthusiasts are so much against regulations and transparency like KYC. As such measures are the part of weeding corruption and draining the swamp. No one just doesn't seem to like when it happens to them personally.-

I believe that countries in africa will eventually stabilize. It will be a long road, but after they do they just might become a superpower with all those resources.

The problem of the world is nit even about natural resources or the way we can use it. Just like we are seeing in Ukraine, the we that is going on that had claim a lot of lives and properties. If things are done appropriately the world population is not going to suffer like we are seeing now that there are different countries that are still experiencing war that seem not to end. The war we are seeing in different regions are affecting our natural results and plants too from growing and giving us enough oxygen as usual. Corruption is something we can nit even stop because it is in every corners of the earth and we all had been living by it.

God has blessed us in Nigeria with so many mineral resources and for the refinery, there is one private one being constructed  in Nigeria just hoped when all is done there won't be anything like fuel scarcity and the price will be fair for all consumers in the country

In some countries the government do not provide resources to its citizens but they utilize these resources for their own benefit which is not a good thing. There should be proper usage of such resources because if citizen will wealthy then country will be prosperous otherwise country will always borrows money from others countries and citizen will face the same problems always.

Actually country is facing troubles because government from start is involved in corruption and it will takes long time because no one will want to reduces their satisfaction and return the borrowed money. All resources which are present in country are the right of citizen so these resources should be used for the purpose of making a stable country not for government to get all the income from these resources to satisfy only their lives but it is for the satisfaction of citizens.

What happens is that once corruption has taken place it is almost impossible to displace it peacefully, for example if there was an influential politician in one of those countries which was deeply interested on making their country prosper and combat corruption then they will have to battle almost all the political class and the rich which benefit from that corruption, so they will never be allowed to lead the country, and even if they could become the leaders of said country then they will be hindered at every opportunity so they do not reach their goals.

don't forget to mention the corruption part as i believe, it is one of the major hurdles why these countries are having hard time to move forward. if they won't eradicate or at least lessen this practice, they won't progress with their agenda.
this for me is one major bottleneck why a certain government can't achieve what they want because of so many politicians who are corrupt in so many ways. what can you expect from this leadership if they are after for their personal agenda?

I think the mistake most of these stupid African leaders are making is that they forget that humans are the greatest resources you can have. Just look at the rate of migration from Africa at a very high rate that I don't think they will be able to replace these brains in the next 10 years. If you have natural resources and you are not blessed with human resources to use them and allocate them right you are going to suffer for it and these resources will turn to curses, most of the conflicts in most part of Africa is resource conflict because some people feel they are being cheated of their resources. African need to stop the movement of their best minds to other continents, this is when things will start getting better there, starting with voting for the right people that they know has the love of the continent at heart, Africa should not have lagged behind that far if not for bad leadership.

One of the main problems in almost any developing country is corruption, the resources which are buried on the African continent are huge and should be more than enough to propel them to achieve a massive amount of development, however the politicians at the top instead of using those resources to improve their country steal most of them and become incredibly rich, then they get replaced by another corrupt politician and the same process starts all over again.

If African governments can manage Earth's assets well then the country will not feel the economic crisis, because Africa is one of the countries that produce crude oil but they cannot manage these revenues and they until now cannot make much profit from these natural products, so African governments must take this problem seriously so that people's welfare will be easy to realize.

Do you think a lot of people want to manipulate them and just want to rule them without helping them, I read about the history of the civilization that appeared in Egypt, they were very rich, and the climate not the reason for their poverty, years of domination, and limited knowledge, lack of economic support, and sometimes unfair treatment... I don't blame the government their because there are so many outside things that are affecting every country in Africa. I also know about some friends in Africa who are improving their lives, some of the issues that help in agriculture in some poor countries are gradually changing their lives, so A history of control makes it difficult for a wealthy owner to spend his assets.

If you check some continent who were in the race of under development with Africa, you will see that they have understood the purpose of focus leadership and you see were they are today economically. Particularly the 4 that are called the Asian tigers namely Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. Singapore for example is far growing in production and exportation , they have witnessed tremendous economic growth that they are fast becoming destination area for Nigerians and Africa at large. In the production of automobile, South Korea is creating an outstanding market for herself.

The Chinese are not left out of these countries that have got their leadership technique right. The extent of the trade war with the biggest economy of America deserve more to be mentioned. China is into world class construction. India is creating a world class health sector and soon becoming a health tourism center all because of leadership while most of these countries don't have the natural resources embedded in Africa.

It is unfortunate if a country has a lot of natural resources but is not used properly. Africa has many natural resources that have not been properly utilized for the benefit of its citizens. The lack of effective management and misappropriation of these resources by governments results in the inability of African countries to harness their economic potential and achieve self-sufficiency. In fact, if these natural resources are managed properly, Africa can reduce its dependence on imports, develop local industries, and improve the welfare of its citizens.

Sustainable and efficient use of resources can bring many benefits to Africa, including economic independence, debt relief, and reduced dependence on other countries. To do this, there is a need for cooperation between governments, companies, and international partners to ensure that resources are exploited and used in a sustainable and equitable manner. Issues such as whether Nigerian oil is refined abroad and re-imported at high prices or for other countries to continue to take advantage of the resource, are all things that need to be considered and improved. There must be transparency in resource management and ensuring that the interests of Africans are protected and enhanced. Africa has many important natural resources such as oil, coal, and other minerals. If these resources are used effectively, African countries can enrich and develop sustainably for the benefit of their citizens. However, the management of this resource has encountered many challenges, including abuse and ineffective management by the government and foreign companies.

Some countries need to act freely on many issues in order to use their resources. We call the countries that can make this move in the world already strong countries. Therefore, it is education that needs to be corrected from the very beginning. If this is fixed, the problems we mentioned will be fixed as well.

Even if you have done everything, the concept of leader you mentioned is a must for a country. That's when they can harmonize what they have with each other. But often things turn upside down and come to selfish interests. That's why good things don't happen.

Africa countries have the challenge of leadership not that they don't have what it takes but selfish interest which is why they run under the developed countries. The human and material resources for Africa to develop itself are there but they fail to harmonize what they have. Take Nigeria for example, all states of the country has natural resources in commercial deposit but only leadership is the challenge. Nigeria is suppose to be the commercial base of Africa with her population but no directional leadership for the continent, which is the bane for the continent.

The whole thing starts at the heart of your government. That’s why we need to choose perfect government and we need to vote to right people when choosing them. It can literally change the entire face of country overnight. I think it is all about the governing body in the Africa which has not been very fruitful till date. You can literally see that how basic needs of Africans are not fulfilled by your government. Whether it is water, food and decent shelter; nothing is really up to the mark. Some of them are literally die of hunger. So forget about the infrastructure which can uplift the Africas industrialisation. It will take time. People should start thinking in a democratic way to choose their perfect leader and then bring the change within country.

Africa is one of the countries that has abundant natural resources, but their governments cannot manage these natural products well, until now there are still many citizens of these countries who have difficulty facing economic problems, of course this is a very big problem that must be solved by the government so that they can live more profitably in the economic field, They export crude oil because of the lack of knowledge they have until now they still cannot take advantage of the income, so this is a serious problem that they have to face.

Many African countries have good leaders. Most of them are selfish and only interested in stealing the resources of the country. Leaders that should protect the people against exploitation are conniving with these foreign companies to exploit the people making them impoverished. There is no quality education that will empower Africans to maximize these abundant resources to better their lives.

If the government will be sincere enough to do what you have proposed @Halime Anatolia such a nation will be a better place. If the interest of people is given the right attention, the people will not suffer. Some nations have enough resources to take care of all their citizens if it is well managed. But in such nations, you will find the highest level of poverty. The problem of most nations is not a lack of resources but poor utilization.

It's no secret that the government still wins in every way. if the government is honest, firm and operates according to the rules and does not prioritize the interests of groups or groups, I think it will be easy. Every investor who enters and manages state assets is obliged to deposit profits for the state and the people. especially now that there are many successful companies that always provide CSR funds for the surrounding community so that they can be used as needed.

Wow!!! I almost missed this topic but not too late. From the political economy perspective, the world Economy system is divided into three epochs, era or periods. I might even add another call phase. The first phase of the economic system was based on agrarian in which the landlords acquire enough lands and gave to the serfs which were the servants of the lords.
How the Agrarian Era passed
Some of the talented children of the king's manufacturered irons like Cutlass, Knives, and other machines were produced, and since machines could performed much more better than human, then human labour was removed.

Exploitative era
The production was very high that European countries could not consumed all the production at that time so they were shipped down to other countries and the most affected continent was Africa.
Industrial Period
Industries was established to carry out the exploitation agenda and that caused the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 to scramble Africa because of her natural resources to among the world powers.
Colonialism
The industrial Revolution was the one that led to the colonializations of African countries and all because of her natural resources.
Neocolonialism
This is what the Africans are suffering from today. After the colonial period the white men planted a seed and this seed is to perpetual control the African resources and any country which refused to obey this polar system will be eliminated and some African leaders were killed through this mean. Africans are use to rule the Africans for the world powers now.
Natural Resources In Africa
Africa is blessed with different natural resources plus human but all these blessings are cursed to Africans. As a literary scholars, if you are an African you are cursed and you better killed yourself and leave the corrupt world for eternity.

There are three Deltas in the whole world. Mississippi Delta, Niger Delta in Nigeria and there is another Delta in China. All the other two Deltas have been developed to the world standard but the Niger Delta in Nigeria is a Ghetoo Zone, It is a waste land of TRASH. And the OIL MINERAL NATURAL RESOURCES IS FROM THERE. What a shame.

I agree that Africa has a lot of abundant natural resources that are beneficial for those around it, but yes, if seen the condition of its citizens is quite sad, they do not get full benefits from the earth they live in.
But if you only lament the sadness by not being able to do anything and let them (strangers) take the wealth of Africa for their interests, it will never be finished and up to the community under its benefits, even they may only get the heat of the air arising from the industry The foreigners wake up there.
The government must take strict action in the use of natural resources that are in their territory to be beneficial for their people.
In the scheme of the use of natural resources correctly it will have an impact on a better economy but to achieve this, it requires a long -term, because the level of education and human intelligence also significantly affects if you want to utilize natural resources in the country.

I also want to warn African countries - attract normal investors for the extraction and processing of natural resources. Otherwise, China will come to you, and your resources will become China's resources, and your countries will have a lot of debts, and the economy will depend on the yuan. And this will be the financial and resource absorption of your countries.

There are already real examples - you can easily find how "Chinese investments" end ... Do not repeat their mistakes ...

Africa is not getting enough supports from their colonies who capitalize on the natural resources in Africa ever since they colonized Africa and still have influence on the companies that work with the raw materials in Africa. Nigeria is an example of an oil producing country under the influence of Britain on their oils. Shell is owned by them and they still make loads of money through the oil company, that's why it seems like no refinery operates in the country. The price of those minerals is very expensive for citizen of Nigeria, which is not proper, they should be enjoying cheaper prices on petrol. The Government takes the blame, but they see what the citizens can't understand, instead of losing out they take their own personal share of the resources and move on while it lasts. Their colonies still have an eye on them.

China has eyes everywhere to extract their resources and take as much advantage if that as they can , even in Asia they have several interests for mineral resources even gold extractions .
Countries are gifted with all sort of resources and unfortunate are the ones who don't know how to make use of that.
Arabs are ruling the worlds because of their gifted oil and they never let anyone take advantage or use of that.

A lot of countries have already tried to capitalize on Africa's minerals but China in particular had tried to establish partnerships with Africa in the early 2000's through mutual business development. Many of those partnerships failed, but I digress. I assume China would've attempted to set up debt traps to African nations had they had an opportunity, but nothing ever came to fruition.

A lot of private enterprises are using up cheap African labor and minerals for their products (EV batteries and such). Too many African countries are far behind in development which doesn't give them the technology to monetize natural resources without the use of intermediaries.

There are many countries just like Africa in the world that had not established there mineral resources they have because of bad government, mismanagement, conflicts, poor education and many things that is why it still look like some countries in Africa are not fit to stand as an independent country because of lack of knowledge and necessary tools to establish a market for the raw materials they got from the nature. There are many countries suffering I'm Africa because of bad government which had mad the entire country looks very poor.

We could say that they were  doing illlegal schemes and exploiting  natural resources from everyone, but would you also understood how the way they manage their lives? We all know they are curropt to the point that we hate them, but, is that enough reason for us to hate them? Although it is and it's not that we are criticizing them but they are all monoplozing everything and been all doing monopoloy over centuries, and that's all what made them who theybare today., but what we are truly thinking generally is all about our own financial security.

There are lots of countries which has a good resources but they don't know how to use it I think if understanding of the proper use of these resources become easy then there will be no country which will be deprived of anything.

There are some countries which exchanges their extra resources with other countries by that resources which are scares in that country so its also a good idea for making a country prosperous. Coals, salts, petrol are also present in maximum amount in our country and our leaders has the ability to use these resources in a better way.

They are without a doubt abundant in those mineral deposits. But do they have any agreements with other nations that pay them to operate and mine all of those reserves as well? And since they are tied to them, it is difficult to have that clause deleted because the stakes are friendship and the continued existence of the relationship established through business. Yes, it will greatly aid in debt relief and assist people improve their standard of living, but because it's a part of the system, there is a fault.

There are really a lot of natural resources there, but the government is not taking action, and there are also a lot of corrupt people there that only think of themselves and not the country alone. Also, also Africa has low support from other countries, which means low investors, so the government can't earn money to start processing things there and not selling them as raw materials as it can gain more profit from it.

Africa is very rich in resources but still they cannot benefit from those mineral resources is because of Lack of infrastructure. To be able to develop and utilize the mineral resources of a country it requires a significant investment in infrastructures such as roads, pipelines and ports. Many of African countries lack of the necessary infrastructure to fully exploit their natural resources. Another one is the Political instability and conflict can create uncertainty for investors and make it difficult to develop natural resources. Natural resources have been a source of conflict and tension in African countries. Limited access to capital is also affects it, there is a difficulty to African countries to access capital investment due to limited financial resources or a lack of foreign investment.

This is another example of how the actual population is the one deciding the fate of a country
- you can have billions in resources, but that's not like those were given to you or you earned them somehow, it's just that in the lottery of life, you were born there and not on a completely different continent, so one shouldn't feel entitled just by that
- you can have almost no resources but ingenuity born out of shortages will help you way more than just having your meal dropping on your head every day, see how Japan industrialized itself

Besides, since the discussions start with we have resources, we need to be wealthy, It is clear how this will go long term even if those resources will be exploited, a classic example of Dutch disease where everyone would simply depend on the price of minerals on the markets.


And the ability to print money has been always a double-edged sword, look at what this did to the Zimbabwe dollar, the Sudanese pound, the Naira, and the SAR rand, almost all of the currencies have lost 80% vs the dollar, while the CAF, it was 0.0019 in 2003 it's 0.0017 now 20 years later.

Mineral resources are things that are gifted to you by nature and God you can make the most out of it by extracting them and using them to its fullest. 
The main task with mineral resources is their mining and extraction I'd you'll do that you will waste your gift and deprive yourself from many benefits .

The presence of large deposits of natural resources is not a synonym for "rich life."
There is still a long way to go between resources and finished raw materials for production, or finished goods.
for example - sand (silicon) is everywhere. But the production of processors is a unique product with a huge added value!
Start with a question - exploration: is Africa ready to do it itself? If not, there is a loss due to the payment of external specialists.
Is Africa ready to mine itself? If not - again a loss, because. you need to buy expensive Western equipment ...
Is Africa ready to do the primary processing itself to the finished product for which there is a demand in the market? If not - again additional costs - you also need to buy cleaning / melting / ... technologies.
Is Africa ready to provide the logistics, support and contract guarantees? ....
In a word, only the presence of deposits does not mean anything, and it is not a fact that this will bring tangible profit to a country or region

That's true, a lot of third-world countries have a lot of natural resources, they may extract and use some of them but most of them are given on a contract basis to other countries for them to extract and utilize them and share a percentage of the profit I believe, though I'm not sure how their business work, but it's true that smaller countries do take help from others in such cases.

A country that can make use of the natural resources themselves can prosper and have a great economy and a much better future for the country since they can work on the development of almost everything within the country with the help of the money they can make from those natural resources.

Problem is lack of knowledge. Most areas in Africa were deprived of education. Minerals will just be a potential but won't be too beneficial if people cannot utilize it in such way their economy would make use of it on global trade of goods. Another indeed is resources such as tools and equipments for them to make use of those minerals. Usually, on third world countries, foreign countries are ones who make use or take advantage of the circumstance, they become the capitalists in that country. Same thing happens in my country wherein most of the big companies are owned by foreign people. Even with agricultural movements, locals are being used as workforce.

Wishes have no place here, as they stand against the economic launches of companies that make commercial profits from those cheap raw resources. Even if governments decide that, some countries will prevent them, as is happening in some African countries, as they cannot create their own currency and all of their local currencies are printed in France.

Therefore, the problem is political and economic, and this struggle for influence will not end with political solutions except with military and structural changes that enable the individuals of those countries to recover their resources, and until that happens, they will not be able to do many things.

There is no doubt that they're rich with those mineral deposits. But do they've got some partnerships with other countries that also pays them to operate and dig up all of those deposits right? And that part of the contract is hard to get removed when they're bind together with them and the stake is all about being friends to them and the relationship that's built through business will remain. Yes, it will help a lot to get out of debt and make themselves have a better living but it's part of the system and with such, there's a flaw.

Africa's natural resources were always ripe for the picking, however those who are seated on its governments with their corrupt practices are what's rife for harnessing these resources, too. You have some countries that are slowly being sold to China through the absurd loans that these countries are getting for infrastructure and economic development that produces nothing for the citizens and instead, fatten their wallets. Imagine, just the gold and titanium alone in that continent is enough to boost the region's economy by a lot but no, those who have the power to oversee these resources are incompetent and are outright corrupt to the core.

Actually, you're right with that matter about Africa being rich in natural/mineral resources but it's been exploited by other countries into thinking that they should sell it to them and they'll get paid for it. It's sad this has been happening for a very long time and there's no teeth to the law of those countries that are being exploited with their mineral resources. There are many reasons why despite being rich in these natural resources and it's not being benefited by its own people is either due to politics, poor or mismanagement of government and lack of interest from the people who have the voice to speak of their own but even if they speak and voice their thoughts to the government, they'll not be heard and that is because money is power in those areas.

By the way, it's Sierra Leone.

Natural resources are found everywhere in the world, there is no country that would say they don't have any natural resources just that some country have more of a resources than other countries and also we have to also check which resources has more demand this would determine the worth of the resources. Africa is bless with a good amount of natural resources than many places in the world but still is backwards in terms of development.

I can say it's not about the amount of natural resources a country has but it's also important how the country manages their resources, for example Saudi Arabia and Nigeria has close to equal amount of crude oil natural resources but Saudi Arabia is far developed than Nigeria, government miss management plays a role in determining if the resources would be helpful to the country.

We know African countries are blessed with many resources,  The political class must make the right policies that will make Africa attract the right investors that will tap her rich resources. African countries governments should think about how to extract the natural resources that Africa has from nature. Because natural resources are endless, if they can extract natural resources well, then they can export those resources to different countries and the economic system of their countries will be strengthened a lot.

Sadly it seems the modern world has overtaken Africa, many countries stripped their resources because guns versus arrows ended in one result hundreds of years ago. They had so many tribes split across the continent that made it hard to borders to establish and the climate conditions made it especially difficult to develop the infrastructure that is available in places like Europe. While some countries built railway systems in Africa it has barely been worked on since they left. The politicians of these countries often take a very short term view and purely enrich their own families. Who can blame them quite frankly because their is such cut throat corruption in these places that someone else will step into their place quite easily while the average person scrambles for the limits resources left over.

The truth is that Africa is a continent that is very rich in resources and minerals of many different types, but it lacks many advanced technological methods to exploit and use them, turning them into staple products in the economic sector as well as promoting other economic sectors. Hence, the endowed resources given by nature gradually become wasted, and as far as I know, most of their resources are exploited by foreign capitalist companies. This may be good in the short term, but in the long run, I think of it as an act of enriching other capitalist countries.

It's one thing to know, it's one thing to be aware of the benefits and all the profits they may obtain from such, but it's another to willingly sell these resources in exchange for favors courtesy of corruption and shady deals, plus centuries of systemic racism and slavery (which I still am aware is something that happens in these countries). Nigeria has a bright future, some of the brightest people I know from the internet came from South Africa and its neighboring countries, but due to the lack of fostering, as well as the abovementioned reasons, they either have to fly over a different country like the US to get a better chance at life or they end up getting their talents wasted because the country's government, as well as everything else within it, is designed to pick on the average African and abuse them just enough that no other country would bat an eye against their deeds. Literally imagine the fact that Nigeria gets tons and tons of e-waste dumped on them every day, because it's cheaper to dump it over their country and label it as "donation" than to properly dispose of such. That's just insane.

It is true that Africa is endowed with a wealth of minerals and other priceless resources that, if wisely used, might significantly help its people. Some governments have mismanaged, abused, and abandoned these resources, preventing the populace from fully benefiting from them.

There is definitely a squandered chance for economic progress and self-sustainability in Nigeria, where petroleum is refined abroad and imported at a higher price. The same holds true for other minerals that are not being handled properly, such as coal, salt, kerosene, gas, and petroleum.

Greater independence and escape from the cycle of debt and foreign control may result if African nations are able to better harness and manage their resources. African countries have the opportunity to realize their full potential and advance the welfare of their population through building strong infrastructure, enacting sensible laws, and fostering accountability and openness in the management of natural resources.

It is crucial that African governments give careful resource management first priority and foster an environment that promotes investment, innovation, and local participation. They can do this to get away from the indirect colonial systems narrative in history and open the door for sustainable growth and economic prosperity.

Natural resources are abundant in Africa; that much is obvious. This has the potential to completely alter their economies. But here's a curveball: instead of focusing on the traditional extractive industries, why not shift your attention to renewables? Imagine the Sahara not as an empty wasteland, but as a solar power plant that supplies energy to not only Africa, but the entire world. What about countries that are primarily coastal using renewable energy sources like wind and waves?

What about the oil industry? So it's the same as if you sold oranges but bought orange juice at a premium. Why not make your own fresh juice at home? Africa needs to find other uses for its oil than simply exporting its crude product. Simply invest in the necessary infrastructure, and the issue will be resolved.

Just like the importers of generators in Nigeria have also discouraged and frustrated the electricity sector, all those people are connected to government through friends and cronies. Those are cabals that only want the self enrichment and not for the good of the country.


The people in government see it as cash and carry business, no sincerity and that is why most of them have argued that government have no business doing business which is just a fallacy because we have seen other countries government involved in businesses as competition for other private businesses and provided enabling environment for those running capitalist and the socialist are more in control of government businesses.

Nigerian situation is just not understandable, a capitalist system that encourages monopoly. It is appalling the rate of corruption and that pulls down the political will to take political actions and decisions.

Africa is rich in natural resources but the leaders are only rulers who are interested in pride, embezzlement and inhuman tenets for the masses. Particularly in Nigeria, for the records, all the states have a commercial deposit of natural resources but yet the economy is nothing to talk about because of corruption, vote buying and rigging to force unqualified people with no admiring administrative records in power who don't know their left from right and can not take proper and sincere investment decisions to harness these resources . So what do we expect?

Take a look at the natural resources deposit in commercial quantity in states in Nigeria

Abia: Gold, Lead/Zinc, Limestone, Oil/Gas & Salt

Abuja: Cassiterite, Clay, Dolomite, Gold, Lead/Zinc, Marble & Tantalite

Adamawa: Bentonite, Gypsium, Kaolin & Magnesite

Akwa Ibom: Clay, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Oil/Gas, Salt & Uranium

Anambra: Clay, Glass-Sand, Gypsium, Iron-ore, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Phosphate & Salt

Bauchi: Gold, Cassiterite (tine ore), Columbite, Gypsium, Wolfram, Coal, Limestone, Lignite, Iron-ore & Clay

Bayelsa: Glay, Gypsium, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Maganese, Oil/Gas & Uranium

Benue: Barite, Clay, Coal, Gemstone, Gypsium, Iron-Ore, Lead/Zinc, Limestone, Marble & Salt

Borno: Bentonite, Clay, Diatomite, Gypsium, Hydro-carbon, Kaolin & Limestone

Delta: Clay, Glass-sand, Gypsium, Iron-ore, Kaolin, Lignite, Marble & Oil/Gas

Ebonyi: Gold, Lead/Zinc & Salt

Edo: Bitumen, Clay Dolomite, Phosphate, Glass-sand, Gold, Gypsium,Iron-ore, Lignite, Limestone, Marble & Oil/Gas

Ekiti: Feldspar, Granite, Kaolin, Syenite & Tatium

Enugu: Coal, Lead/Zinc & Limestone

Gombe: Gemstone & Gypsium

Imo: Gypsium, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Marcasite, Oil/Gas, Phosphate & Salt

Cross River: Barite, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Manganese, Oil/Gas, Salt & Uranium

Jigawa: Butyles

Kaduna: Amethyst, Aqua Marine, Asbestos, Clay, Flosper, Gemstone, Gold, Graphite, Kaolin, Hyanite, Mica, Rock Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Sihnite, Superntinite, Tentalime, Topaz & Tourmaline

Kano: Gassiterite, Copper, Gemstone, Glass-sand, Lead/Zinc, Pyrochinre & Tantalite

Kastina: Kaolin, Marble & Salt

Kebbi: Gold

Kogi: Cole, Dolomite, Feldspar, Gypsium, Iron-ore, Kaolin, Marble, Talc & Tantalite

Kwara: Cassiterite, Columbite, Feldspar, Gold, Iron-ore, Marble, Mica & Tantalite

Lagos: Bitumen, Clay & Glass-sand

Nasarawa: Amethyst (Topaz Garnet), Barytex, Barite, Cassirite, Chalcopyrite, Clay, Columbite, Coking Coal, Dolomite/Marble, Feldspar, Galena, Iron-ore, Limstone, Mica, Salt, Sapphire, Talc, Tantalite, Tourmaline Quartz& Zireon

Niger: Gold, Lead/Zinc & Talc

Ogun: Bitumen, Clay, Feldspar, Gemstone, Kaolin, Limestone & Phosphate

Ondo: Bitumen, Clay, Coal, Dimension Stones, Feldspar, Gemstone, Glass-Sand, Granite, Gypsium, Kaolin, Limestone & Oil/Gas

Osun: Columbite, Gold, Granite, Talc, Tantalite & Tourmaline

Oyo: Aqua Marine, Cassiterite, Clay, Dolomite, Gemstone, Gold, Kaolin, Marble, Silimonite, Talc & Tantalite

Pleteau: Barite, Bauxite, Betonite, Bismuth, Cassiterite, Clay, Coal, Emeral, Fluoride, Gemstone, Granite, Iron-ore, Kaolin, Lead/Zinc, Marble, Molybdenite, Phrochlore, Salt, Tantalite/Columbite, Tin & Wolfram

Rivers: Clay, Glass-Sand, Lignite, Marble & Oil/Gas

Sokoto: Clay, Flakes, Gold, Granite, Gypsium, Kaolin, Laterite, Limestone, Phosphate, Potash, Silica Sand & Salt

Taraba: Lead/Zinc

Yobe: Soda Ash & Tintomite

Zamfara: Coal, Cotton & Gold

From the story you have described, I can only conclude that there (in Africa) there is still a shortage of smart people to manage the resources that are already there. This means that what is still lacking there are human resources who can be relied upon to properly manage all natural resources and can provide benefits to every citizen who lives there. If you think about it, it's really unfortunate if the citizens there can't feel the slightest bit of prosperity in their lives through the results of the natural resources they have.

And one more thing, isn't there a group of people or organizations admonishing the government to care more about their natural resources so that citizens no longer buy natural resources imported by other countries into Africa? The problem is that natural resources that are very useful like that can clearly change countries in Africa to become more independent even though they don't immediately develop at a greater level. So this is where the concern of the government must exist so that every problem can be resolved properly and correctly.

The truth is that in Africa, they are blessed with the minerals resources in abundan of different kinds but they lack the final utilization of these resources to every last bit of its mining and their applications in different aspects of the economy, which means that there are many of these resources laid down to waste due to non effective utilization of them into a finished product for final consumers, the government are trying but they still need more advanced way of approach which the developed countries are using in making a maximum use of their resources where applicable.

Mineral resources are useless without human resources. Africa is blessed with natural resources but they lack the needed human resources. And the best personnel Africa needs is good political leadership. If the continent is ruled by right leaders it will lead to the development of economic manpower. The political class must make the right policies that will make Africa attract the right investors that will tap her rich resources. Africa needs foreign investments because the continent lacks the funding to turn its raw materials into finished products. Until this happens, Africa will continue to be a poor continent amid rich resources.

Not only countries in Africa have large mineral resources, many other third world countries also have rich resources. They have mineral resources but lack the technology and machines to mine and process them, this is the situation in most poor countries. Instead, they look to developed countries that have the technology to help them do that, and of course, the developed countries will take advantage and find ways to keep their distance so that they have more benefits.
I think the 3rd world countries rich in mineral resources will find it difficult to self-exploit and produce in the future, the great powers will find all ways to restrain and make poor countries dependent on them. That's why the world still has huge disparities between countries.

Since Africa is a country rich in natural resources, if they can maintain those natural resources well and exploit them, then their country will be much better.

We can follow the example of Qatar, a small country in the Middle East that has become one of the most economically powerful countries in the world today, relying solely on its natural resources. 

African governments should think about how to extract the natural resources that Africa has from nature. Because natural resources are endless, if they can extract natural resources well, then they can export those resources to different countries and the economic system of their country will be strengthened a lot.

One thing is to have good resources (opportunity); another is to know about them (unawareness)  and at the same time have proper usage for them. There are a lot of natural resources on African lands; crude is not just the only thing, as you have stated, and these resources are being secretly and openly extracted either by the country's government or private entrepreneurs. But the question here is: what are those resources made from selling out those resources used for? To me, it's not about having those resources or even knowing the worth of those resources; it's about how those resources are being used for the betterment of the nation and not for the enrichment of the leaders.

Talking about Nigeria exporting their crude overseas for refining is not because the country lacks the capacity to set up a working refinery, which they can use to do that, or they lack the knowledge of doing so; all I see here is greed. For the country to own an active refinery, it means a lot of private individuals who are also government officials won't be benefiting from exportation. There are about three private exporters of crude who are making a heavy sum from it, and they will always try every possible way to make sure that their earnings remain. Let's watch and see what will happen if the Dangote proposed refinery is concluded and commissioned, and if there will be a little change even though it is a private refinery.

Africans are blessed with a lot of minerals that if this resources are gainfully used for benefit of their citizens, this God given resources would add colours to Africans. Countries in Africans like Nigeria, Serial Leone, Ghana, kenya, south Africa and lots more you will a lot of natural resources either misused or abandon by government and even if they see need to use them, is either abused or mismanaged. Petrol in Nigeria till today is been refined outside country and still import back to Nigeria on a high price, lots of minerals like coals, salt, kerosene, gas, petroleum and so on but no appropriate handling of this resources, so even the citizens can not benefit from it. If Africa can make use of their resources well, they will be more independent, free from indebtedness and indirect colonial system of other countries.