The Raw Figures: How Africa Is Making Others Rich Africa’s resource wealth is still in the hands of foreigncompanies AFRICANGLOBE – Viewers of CNN on the weekend of July 27-28, 2013, might have been stunned at the gigantic amount of wealth Africa possesses. Not only that; but also how much of the gadgets of everyday life depend on resources from Africa.The CNN broadcast was titled “How Africa’s minerals fuel your world” and it sourced its data from British GeologicalSurvey, America’s CIA, andthe World Bank among others. Naturally, the documentarygenerated many comments: with the general theme being if Africa is so rich in resources, why are millionsof its people living in poverty? Others delved into how Africa can better harness its wealth to benefit its ownpeople. Michael Ian Wright was stunned: “Wow, with all those fantastic resources, one would expect that folks living there would have outrun Europe in progress a thousand years ago at least. They should have colonized Mars by the time we had the Renaissance.” , “Indeed, Africa is full of resources and should not be a destitute continent. The problem is, Africa’s resources are in the handsof foreign companies and corrupt African leaders. The benefit of these resources never go to Africa’s people. Furthermore, the root cause of most of the continent’s problems — wars and corrupt governments — is arbitrarily drawn colonial boundaries that divide a people in some areas, and group together competing ethnic groups in other countries.“In such instances, all you get is constant ethnic competition, nepotism, corruption, hatred and war.The underlying problems ofAfrica cannot be addressedwithout resolving its politics. Africa has enough resources and can grow enough food to feed everybody.” Michael Blackmoon: “Everything the West usedwas stolen . . . ask China, India, Africa, South America, among others . . . lucky the black plague didn’t finish us off. Remember the dark ages?” Fungal Spawl weighed in: “West/East stealing from Africa. End of Story,” while Mr Robert said, “Africa: therichest and poorest continent. Rich in terms of natural resources, poor in terms of life standards. But from laptops to cellular phones, cars to airplanes, all kinds of everyday itemsare made using minerals that come from Africa.” It isno exaggeration to say that the world depends on Africa. How Africa Fuels the World Catalytic converters are fitted to cars to reduce pollution, and platinum and rhodium are key components. Africa produces most of the world’s platinum and rhodium for this purpose. In 2012, South Africa produced 128 tonnes of platinum, 170 tonnes of gold, 8.2 million carats of diamonds (2011), and 255 million tonnes of coal (2011). As well as platinum and rhodium, South Africa is a major producer of gold, diamonds, coal and iron ore. Over the past 10 years, the mining industry has contributed around US$200billion to the country’s GDP and export earnings, in real terms.In all, 513 000 people wereemployed in extractive industries in 2011 and the sector contributed US$408 billion to South Africa’s total national GDP that year. Cellular phones, laptops and other small electronic devices use parts made from tantalum. It is a key export of several African countries — but has been implicated in funding conflictin the DRC. Mozambique produces 24 percent of the world’s tantalum, followed by Rwanda (20 percent), the DRC (11 percent) and Ethiopia (nine percent). Other African countries account for seven percent of global production combined. The market pricefor tantalite ore in July 2013 was US$262/kg. Mozambique produced as much as 260 tonnes of tantalum in 2011, in addition to 500kg of gold. Despite increases in tantalum output, agricultureis currently far more important than mining for Mozambique. The country also has hugecoal reserves and a large field was discovered off itsnorthern coast in 2011. They have brought significant foreign investment that could havea huge effect on Mozambique’s economy. It is estimated that 60,000 artisanal miners were employed in gold mining in Mozambique in 2011, and that mining contributed US$12,8b to GDP. Bling Bling In 2011, Africa produced more than half of the world’s diamonds, nearly three-quarters of its platinum and a fifth of its gold. The major producers of gemstones and preciousmetals were Botswana, Zimbabwe, the DRC, South Africa and Angola.