Mining

Africa’s contribution to the world’s mineral economy is significant. The continent is endowed with an abundance of natural resource wealth (see Table 39.1), and in recent years escalating global demands for oil and strategic minerals, particularly from emerging economies, have made African resources increasingly important. Consequently, a number of African countries have become global leaders in the production of key minerals, a development that has generated substantial revenue flows for their economies. Mineral wealth across the continent is diverse and vast: according to World Bank (2012) statistics, in 2010 Guinea alone produced over 8 per cent of the world’s bauxite supply, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo jointly produced 6.7 per cent of global copper, and Ghana and Mali accounted for 5.8 per cent of global gold production. South Africa holds the world’s largest reserves of gold, and it remains the leading global source of chromium and manganese (Baker et al., 2014). The Democratic Republic of Congo has the world’s largest reserves of coltan and significant quantities of the world’s cobalt, and collectively African countries produce half or more of the world’s diamonds, platinum and cobalt (Stock, 2013). Africa has also increasingly become a region of major oil and gas discoveries, with over 30 countries now involved in the extraction of petroleum products (African Development Bank, 2009).