Analysis briefly:
- Africa is simply a continent rich in natural resources. For this reason, it has been exploited in many ways for hundreds of years. Although the times of subordinate colonies are behind us, the influence of global players has not decreased.
- Despite the abundance of wealth, Africa remains the poorest continent. The lion's share of the profits from exploitation goes to global corporations and a narrow group of elites.
- Mineral resources are the origin of many armed conflicts and political shuffling on the continent.
- The mining manufacture in Africa faces many irregularities, specified as illegal mining, dangerous working conditions, hiring children and starving rates.
- There are many challenges ahead of African countries rich in natural materials, but besides opportunities to improve their welfare. Especially since there are countries on the continent that can service as an example in terms of managing their resources.
For hundreds of years, planet powers have been fighting for influence in Africa. From establishing first trade contacts, through colonization and the era of slavery, to the movements of independence, cold war and modern times, the vast areas of the African continent are being exploited on a massive scale. The exploitation and exploitation of natural goods in Africa stay unchanged. From time to time, only request for circumstantial natural materials and beneficiaries of the full process changes.
It is no different in the 21st century. Although the times of subdued African colonies have long passed (politically speaking), the influence of global players has not decreased. Today, they are manifested in the form of mining and commercial contracts, loans, investments, promises. The recently created African states, which frequently remained within the limits of colonialism, had to learn democracy in a very short time. This led to the creation of fresh political and business elites which benefited tremendous profits from the sale of concessions for the extraction of home natural goods to abroad corporations. This was how fortunes of despots were born. erstwhile dictator Zaire (today's Democratic Republic of the Congo), Mobutu Sese Seko, raised a luck of about $5 billion, ruling a country of 1/5 Europe for 30 years. He utilized to say: “I owe Zaire nothing. Zair owes everything to me.” Zaire paid for this in the economical crisis, becoming 1 of the poorest countries in the planet in the 1980s, and the economy of the state completely collapsed. Seeing how much can be gained by controlling the natural land, local warlords and military juntas set up rebellions, occupied the gold or diamond mines illegally, overthrown and killed national leaders. After the end of planet War II, there was no decade in which there was no bloody war in Africa. The reason was usually the same. natural materials.
So what's the game about? In this publication we will focus on the wealth of Africa, for which the natural materials mined there are utilized and which have gained importance with the advent of the digital revolution. We will besides look forward to the irregularities associated with their extraction at both local and national level and the ways in which planet powers are trying to usage valuable African minerals for their purposes today. We will ignore hydrocarbons and renewable energy sources. That's for a separate analysis.
What Is Africa’s Land
In 2019 alone, nearly a billion tons of $ 406 billion of minerals were extracted in Africa[1]. According to the United Nations, there are around 30% of planet mineral resources in Africa, 12% of planet oil resources and 8% of planet natural gas resources[2].
Chromium and platinum
The continent has up to 90% of global platinum resources and about 36% of chromium resources. Both metals are very valuable. Chromium is utilized in the manufacture to manufacture metallic components as an external protective layer that protects the metallic from corrosion and is simply a component of stainless steel (chromium) which is utilized to manufacture sanitary fittings, weapons, aircraft or military vehicles. South Africa is the largest maker and exporter of chromium in the world. Many countries depend on South Africa to import this element, as Nelson Mandela's homeland is liable for almost half of the world's chromium production. Large deposits of this natural material, expanding request in global markets and mediocre government enforcement of mining regulations tempt locals. The Geographic portal estimated in October 2023 that 10% of the chromium produced in South Africa was illegally mined[3]. Just a fewer fake documents, protection from corrupt officials and officers and miners operate under the facade of a legal mining company. In this way, even 1 million tons of chromium ore are produced annually in South Africa. Most are exported to China, the world's largest stainless steel manufacturer. The absence of restrictions and control over the operation of the site means its full degradation. The problem is that in a country where the unemployment rate is 1 of the highest in the world, people willing to work in specified mines never lacks.
South Africa is besides leading in the production and export of platinum. In 2021, she exported immense amounts of this element, worth over $24 billion[4]. But it's inactive not enough. The request for platinum has grown in fresh years, as has its value. Only in early 2024 did it bring a crucial drop in the value of this stone that could lead to the liquidation of respective 1000 jobs. Paul Dunne, CEO of Northam, the 4th largest maker of metals from the platinum group in South Africa, said in an interview with Reuters:
"I personally believe that this is the worst crisis I have seen in 3 decades in comparative terms."5]
Platinum is utilized in the electronics and electrical industries (e.g. electrodes, wires, cable casings), as well as in the refining manufacture (e.g. fuel cells). It can be found in three-way catalysts and particulate filters in cars. It is besides part of many everyday equipment – computers, phones, TVs and appliances.
Cobalt and tantalium – conflict minerals
Around 1.5 billion smartphones were sold worldwide in 2021 – compared to 122 million units in 2007. More than half of the components of the mobile telephone – including electronics, display, battery and speakers – are made of extracted and semi-processed materials. Cobalt and tantal are 1 of the key metals utilized to manufacture batteries and consumer electronics. They are besides linked by the fact that they come from a region in constant conflict.
In 2022 about 73% of global cobalt production[6] came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The request for cobalt is estimated to increase more than twice by 2030. any estimates say even 4 times. Unfortunately, by the conditions of extraction and surviving standards of people surviving in areas rich in this element, cobalt is present called a "new bloody diamond". Years of exploitation and many civilian wars have made many regions of the RD Congo places lawlessness, where armed groups commit various atrocities, exploiting local resources and populations for profit.
International corporations, specified as the Chinese CMOC Group Limited and the Swiss Glencore, are primarily liable for mining cobalt. However, as in the case of chromium mining in South Africa, craftsmanship, illegal mines, which are not regulated by any laws that frequently employment children to work, are on the agenda. In 2016, Amnesty global and UNICEF published a study “This is what we die for”[7In which they presented frozen blood in the veins data.
According to both organizations, as many as 40,000 children work in mines throughout the country. The ones with which researchers talked described the work 12 hours a day, including carrying dense loads, while earning an equivalent of $1 to $2 a day. Children who went to school worked 10 – 12 hours on weekends and holidays, as well as before and after school, while those who did not attend school worked in mines all year round.
Dorothee Baumann-Pauly, manager of the Geneva Business and Human Rights Centre, admitted in 2023 that without cobalt illegally extracted, planet producers would not be able to meet their demand[8]. Given besides the fact that hundreds of thousands of people derive income from craft mining, it is impossible to destruct it completely. In 2020, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRK) formed a fresh state-owned company whose task is to acquisition and sale all cobalt mined in the country by craft.
Another metallic utilized in electronic equipment is tantalum. Tantalum capacitors can be found in mobile phones, laptops and electrical cars. RD Congo and Rwanda produce half of the world's tantalum. Its extraction involves the same controversy as for cobalt. All the more so, as the border areas of RD Congo and Rwanda are consumed with armed action at all times.
In August 2012, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the final regulation enshrined in the celebrated Dodd-Frank Act. The Act contained a section on ‘Conflict Minerals’. According to it, public companies in the United States had to collect information and study on their usage of 4 minerals — gold, tantalite, tungsten and cashatre (also called ‘3TG’) — originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries. The aim was to avoid financing armed conflicts and human rights violations, which are frequently linked to the extraction and trade of these minerals in the region. 1 January 2021 entered into force[9] a Regulation of the European Union on the same minerals from conflict regions. Meanwhile, British technology company Circular designed a blockchain tracking strategy that helps find the origin of the tantalum produced in Rwanda[10]. Today, there is simply a legislative effort around the planet to reduce the production of metals in an immoral way. Unfortunately, request for these elements prevents full elimination of the problem.
Lithium – fresh hope (dictator) Zimbabwe
In the case of lithium, African countries are niche producers, but this may shortly change. According to Bloomberg's forecasts, up to 2027 the continent will account for 12% of the world's lithium supply, compared to 1% in 2022. This will be ensured by China, which secures its interests related to this element, which is needed for the production of cars (China is the world's largest marketplace for electrical vehicles) and electrical equipment and solar panels. In 2022 Chinese companies took control packages in respective lithium mines in Zimbabwe[11]. The country has the largest lithium deposits in Africa and any of the largest in the world, but so far, due to deficiency of resources, these resources have remained in the ground. Chinese investments are expected to change that. 1 of them in peculiar is worth paying attention to.
Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, part of the Chinese concern Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, opened a $300 million lithium processing plant in Goromonzi in 2023, about 80 kilometres southeast of Harare, the country's capital. The beginning of the plant, held in July, was praised by Zimbabwe's president, Emerson Mnangagwa, who in 2017 and the military overturned a long-standing dictator and his erstwhile boss, Robert Mugabe.
“Lit is simply a mineral of the present and the future. This investment will make our country a rising and competitive player in the global lithium production chain"
Mnangagwa, who besides has dictatorial aspirations (he resigned all members of his cabinet in November 2017 and then established a fresh cabinet consisting exclusively of members of the ZANU-PF organization and advanced military rank) understands the importance of lithium. In 2022 he banned exports of natural material. This decision is logical: the government wants not only to mine and export lithium out of the country. He besides wants the lithium to be refined on site. In this case, Zimbabwe may benefit from this more than the DRC Congo on cobalt, as the extracted cobalt is usually refined in China before it can be utilized in batteries.
At the end of last year the Chinese announced further investments worth nearly $3 billion[12]. External observers fear that Zimbabwe will become besides dependent on China, and Mnangagwa will stay on the seat for a long time, which present legitimize the controversial elections of 2023. In the meantime, freedom of speech and any criticism of power are not an option in the country. 1 can imagine that immense profits from lithium exports will stay in the trusted ellipse of presidents who erstwhile headed police and secret services.
Gold
African gold has been headlined in fresh months due to Russian interests on the continent. The Blood Gold study provides data that since Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kremlin made over $2.5 billion in African gold trade[13]. The study besides states:
In the Central African Republic, a front company owned by Evgeny Prigozin, exclusive rights were granted to the Ndassima mine, the largest gold mine in the country, in exchange for supporting the authoritarian regime. In Sudan, a “Russian company” controls a large refinery, making Wagner the dominant buyer of unprocessed Sudanese gold.(...) In Mali, Russian mercenaries receive a wage in cash – according to US intelligence $10.8 million a period – from a military junta that took power by force in 2021 and is responsible, among others, for the massacre in Moura, during which Malian soldiers along with Wagner's mercenaries killed over 500 civilians.
W Sudan's gold mine is the military. Even before generals al-Burhan and Hemdeti jumped to each other's throats, society protested the way in which national resources were utilized together. In March 2023, 1 protestor told Sudanese radio Dabang:
We wondered how it was possible that mining facilities were established on the military base and why the army was leaving its actual tasks and alternatively creating commercial enterprises[14].
In Africa, no another material is associated with wealth and power as much as gold. Gold's all over the place. The continent is home to more than 40% of its planet resources. The biggest maker of this stone is Ghana. South Africa and Mali follow her. While planet gold production has increased by 26% since 2010, Africa has grown by almost 60% and in at least 10 African countries has more than doubled[15].
Maintaining advanced levels of unemployment and poorness in the region have caused the number of miners seeking gold on their own to grow. In 2021 the Zimbabwean authorities estimated that 1.5 million people in this 16-million-dollar country were looking for gold[16]. Similarly, in South Africa, RD Congo, Ivory Coast and the Sahel countries (the map of tiny mines from which gold is extracted in the Sahel region coincides with a map of the activities of various armed groups).
It is no different in the leading in the extraction of Ghana. In June 2023, protests broke out in the mining town of Obuasia, erstwhile as many as 300 gold seekers remained underground in the AngloGold Ashanti mine in fear of being arrested by the service. Over 80 decided to leave the mine and was immediately arrested by the police.
In January 2024 70 people died after the gold mine collapsed in Mali. In places where gold is mined, deadly landslides happen regularly. The authorities of countries like Mali are fighting to control the artisanal mining of this metal. In practice, this is very difficult. The sparsely populated desert regions of the Sahel are an area where state or even local control can be impossible, and terrorist and criminal organizations appear as competition for authoritative power[17].
Wood
Africa is besides home to 60% of unused arable land in the planet and has immense wood resources. African wood, especially the palisander (Pterocarpus erinaceus), fell for the Chinese. Traditionally, the main object of trade was Dalbergia species, but as they became little available as a consequence of stricter conservation measures and/or enforcement of logging and export bans, trade moved to alternate species as substitutes, especially those of the genus Pterocarpus[18]. Rosewood is highly valued in China erstwhile producing customized furniture, due to its noble colour, many and form jars and exceptional durability. The continued request from Chinese producers has made palisander the world's most sold chaotic species. Interpol estimated in early 2023 that the value of rosewood was $50,000 per cubic metre. The Chinese desire for rosewood drives the black marketplace and poaching, while destroying the environment. According to an global non-governmental organization Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), China imported more than 3 million tons of rosewood from West Africa with a value of at least $2 billion from 2017 to 2020 alone[19].
In 2012, in Gambia, a West African rose tree was officially classified as threatened with extinction. However, this country, along with neighbouring Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, is inactive 1 of the main suppliers of this species to China, as has been the case for decades. As of June 2022, there is simply a regional ban on logging, transport and export under the Convention on global Trade in Endangered Species of chaotic Fauna and Flora (CITES). However, the interviews conducted by Al Jazeera journalists with local traders revealed that hundreds of containers are waiting for shipment in the port in the capital city of Bandjul. Previously, wood was transported to China by private shipping lines. erstwhile companies ceased specified deliveries after the ban came into force, researchers noticed that traders rapidly adapted and found alternate routes.
China is simply a leading African trading partner. In 2023, the value of trade between China and Africa was $282 billion[20]. By comparison, in the early 21st century it was only 10 billion. African natural materials are essential to the functioning of the Chinese economy. In 2022, about 26% of oil, nearly 20% cotton, 80% cobalt, or 40% manganese utilized by China came from the Black Land. Cooperation with Africa besides has a geopolitical dimension.
Cocoa
70% of cocoa, which reaches the global market, comes from 4 West African countries, i.e. Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. At the beginning of February this year, the marketplace had come to the news that the price of cocoa had increased to a level not seen since 1977.[21]. This is the consequence of, among others, the weather phenomenon El Niño, which threatens crops in West Africa causing hot and dry weather, which will negatively affect the harvest.
Few natural materials originating in Africa depend to specified an degree on weather change and external factors specified as deforestation. On the another hand, we are dealing with a kind of misdirected causality, due to the fact that farmers who grow cocoa (in Ghana and Ivory Coast more than 6 million people are doing so].22]) they themselves carve forests to increase their crops. Meanwhile, the failure of forests affects the rainfall that is essential to grow this plant.
Europe is liable for more than 60% of planet cocoa consumption, but it was not until last year that the sale of coffee, cocoa, palm oil and rubber from deforestation was prohibited in the European Union. This leads to a paradox. Although the deficit of these goods is very real in the close future, according to the fresh EU Directive, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of coffee and cocoa stored in European warehouses are at hazard of destruction. In an article describing this issue, the global Exchange (ICE), 1 of the main trading platforms for coffee and cocoa futures, stated that in summer, almost 200,000 metric tonnes of cocoa and 150,000 metric tons of coffee beans were stored in warehouses with an ICE licence in ports across Europe.
However, specified problems are nothing compared to the working conditions on cocoa plantations, for which both distributors and consumers have turned a blind eye for decades. In Western African countries, cocoa is cultivated by full communities, but the income from grain trade is mainly in the pockets of the state and global corporations. Meanwhile, farmers are given wages below the poorness threshold. This leads to a number of worrying events leading to the hiring of millions of children, who are forced to quit education in support of plantations, and in many cases besides to leave their household at a very young age.
Global estimates of kid labour in 2016 indicate that 1 5th of all African children are forced to work, which represents a percent more than twice as advanced as in any another region[23]. 9% of African children do work in dangerous conditions, which is besides the world's most shameful result. The age structure of children working in Africa is much younger than anywhere else – 59% of children working from 5 to 11 years, 26% from 12 to 14 years and 15% from 15 to 17 years of age. The vast majority of them work in agriculture, including cocoa plantations. Most kid labour is free of charge due to the fact that they usually work in farms and household businesses.
Diamonds
African countries have provided 75% of all diamonds in circulation worldwide with a full value of 1.9 billion carats, valued at $158 billion[24]. Diamonds have 2 main applications: in jewelry (because of their rareness and beautiful appearance) and in manufacture (because of their unique molecular properties). As far as quantity is concerned, about 30% of diamonds have gem quality and are distributed among experts to cut, polish and manufacture jewelry[25]. The remaining 70% of diamonds are sold for industrial applications, including cutting, drilling, grinding and polishing in industrial applications. Democratic Republic of the Congo is the largest maker of industrial diamonds in Africa. erstwhile it comes to the production of the highest quality diamonds utilized in jewelry, Botswana takes first place. However, in the diamond-rich parts of Africa, the income generated from mineral extraction improves the quality of life of natives to a tiny extent. The exception is Botswana.
Deutsche Welle station interviewed diamond experts in early 2023 to learn the reason for this.[26]. The conclusions that can be drawn from this analysis are deluded by pathological processes, which besides happen erstwhile mining gold and another valuable natural materials in mediocre parts of Africa. As in the remainder of the case, there are besides 2 markets for diamond exploitation: a formal mining manufacture which is supervised (at least to any extent) and a little formal 1 in which miners (garimpeiro) extract diamonds for themselves or their sponsors.
Secret marketplace for the acquisition and sale of precious stones – especially diamonds mined by garimpeiro – is mostly dominated by foreigners: intermediaries from Senegal, China, France, Eritrea, Guinea and Congo who are not curious in supporting local communities.
African Diamond Council data indicate that in the case of smuggled diamonds, an estimated 28% to 32% of gross from full African diamond production is lost. In many cases, illegally mined diamonds carried abroad are confiscated by 3rd countries and from where they become owned.
No another natural material is associated on specified a scale with armed conflicts. Diamonds, called 'bloody', financed wars and caused them. This was the case, for example, in the case of violent wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone or many conflicts in the DRC and Angola.
As for modern times, we return to the Russian invasion of Ukraine again. In an interview with the German DW, Marques de Morais, an English writer and author of the book “Blood Diamonds”, notes that Russia's commitment to African diamond trade through the Russian corp Alrosa helps finance the war in Ukraine while further exploiting local residents. Russia is 1 of the largest diamond producers and exporters in the world. The fact that it mainly produces diamond natural material, not sanded stones, helps the government circumvent sanctions.
Against the background of exporting countries, “blood diamonds” stand out for Botswana. Over 50 years of continuous civilian leadership, progressive social policy and crucial capital investment have created a unchangeable democracy and economy with incomes higher than the African average. Most economies are based on diamond extraction, but tourism is besides developing. Botswana late allocated $65 million to acquisition shares in a Belgian diamond trading company, HB Antwerp[27]. In 2022, HB Antwerp established cooperation with Microsoft to track the extracted gems, as consumers do not want diamonds mined in war zones and sold to finance uprisings and armed conflicts. utilizing blockchain technology and Microsoft cloud to make a digital diamond footprint is intended to let tracking of each stone from the minute of extraction in Botswana until it is delivered to the consumer.
In 2021, the company opened an innovation laboratory in Botswana that educates engineering and technology graduates in terms of career in the facility. The plans besides include the beginning of the academy for local diamond grinders.
Summary
Africa is home to an infinite amount of natural goods. This vast, magnificent and highly diverse continent, 3 times the size of Europe and inhabited by about 3,000 different cultural groups, however, besides has many common problems. It faces many challenges and opportunities.
It is worth noting again that in this analysis we omitted hydrocarbons specified as oil and natural gas and renewable energy sources. Africa has tremendous renewable energy potential, especially in areas specified as solar, wind, water, geothermal and biomass. The same applies to oil. After immense discoveries in Namibia in 2022, 2023 was another crucial year for the exploration of hydrocarbons in Africa[28]. Only by September, half a billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe) in oil and gas deposits were discovered throughout the continent[29]. The search is dominated by companies specified as Shell, Qatar Energy or TotalEnergies. We besides left out uranium, which is vastly produced in Namibia and Niger.
This vast amount of underground treasures does not translate into the well-being of citizens. Africa remains the poorest continent, and per capita income in African countries is among the lowest in the world. In the top 30 world's poorest countries in terms of GDP per capita, only 5 are not in the Black Land.
Most of the profits from the trade in natural materials go abroad, or to a very narrow group of elites holding power. The problem is besides in the mining and export process itself. Today, minerals are mostly exported from Africa in a natural state for refining abroad. expanding processing capacity in Africa to export intermediate goods or end products could aid boost economical improvement on the continent by creating jobs and consequence in higher taxation and sales revenues. A good example is this part of the 2020 PISM analysis, in which, on the example of cashew nuts, we see how the lion's share of profits from the trade of natural materials goes to intermediaries and importers:
Of the agricultural products without processing, for example, 95% of cashew nuts are exported at an average price of around 800–900 dollars per tonne, which after treatment yields a value of $10,000 per tonne.[30]
Unfortunately, Africa is besides an arena of endless armed and political conflicts. Frequent changes in power, not always consistent with the constitution, make it hard to introduce common global regulations and to supervise the extraction and export of natural materials. Many places in countries specified as DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Mali and South Africa inactive match the mythical chaotic West, where you can make fortunes by bypassing global and national laws. This state of affairs is driven by untaxed poaching and illegal mining, which benefit individuals or groups of people alternatively of full communities. Not to mention wars that origin mass migration and affect many another social pathologies, leaving millions of people on the line of life and death.
If there is something that allows us to look forward with hope, then a global increase in consumer awareness of the impact of their choices on the conditions under which the goods are produced. We are inactive here to see Africa as the younger brother of the alleged West, dependent on our law and regulations. Nevertheless, these 2 issues – consumer and distributor behaviour and the working conditions of producers – stay inseparable.
Africa will not be better placed without liable leaders. Fortunately, many countries present can boast of their own business and intellectual elites, which have formed for the past fewer decades and are inactive forming. Universities in Egypt and South Africa have been ahead of the best Polish universities in planet rankings for years. The first global campus of the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras – IIT Madras opened on the Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar last year. Educated people in the right positions and greater cooperation between countries will be key to achieving prosperity, as the problems of many African countries are not just about extracting natural materials. Rather, it is 1 of the many signs of irregularities affecting the low standard of surviving of people surviving in circumstantial regions of the continent.
The destiny of more than 1 billion people will besides be mostly dependent on the decisions and actions of global corporations, mining companies and state governments, especially China, Russia, the countries of the European Union, the USA and India.
Photo: Pixabay.com
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