ABSTRACT
This chapter presents two case studies that have a common denominator, though different global contexts. The first one takes place in eastern Africa in what is probably one of the world's poorest countries. Madagascar has poor infrastructure where all multinational firms have struggled to provide their projects with a reasonable level of facilities to build their projects. Amazing infrastructure restrictions do conspire against the normal development issues of a mineral sands project to make projects challenging when no adequate ports, roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, or trucks are available. The second case involves a number of huge iron ore deposits, concentrated all within Cameroon in western Africa, which extend into neighboring countries, making this resource a potential source of both richness and conflict. The potential resources are gigantic; this leads the project to face incredible long-term operational challenges that need to be tackled by skillful and knowledgeable global executives.
