The African Continent is no doubt endowed with plenty of mineral resources. It is home to 30 per cent of the world’s natural resources including gold, diamonds, iron ore, uranium, and cobalt as well as significant oil and gas reserves that are found in different parts of the Continent. The African Continent holds 40 per cent of the world’s gold and also has massive deposits of chromium and platinum. Additionally, the Continent has immense potential for hydroelectric power, solar energy, and geothermal energy but not just that, the land of Africa is also one of the most fertile lands for Agriculture.
Despite the immense amount of valuable resources, the African Continent is known for its poverty. Many African countries have the lowest per capita income in the world. According to the data of the World Bank the whole Continent of Africa is the region with the lowest per capita income and its per capita income is only 3 per cent of the world’s income. Although Africa used to be the most peaceful region in the world the “Great Game” has brought the nations here into conflict with each other which is why it is facing poverty for several years now, due to which today Africa is considered a “Third World”. Apart from endless wars related to religious, political, and social divisions, the situation is becoming worse with each passing day. In the 21st century, while humans are busy trying to surpass each other in space, carelessness and inattentiveness to Africa are sad for humanity.
Undoubtedly African Continent has a treasure of minerals. Generally, when the thought of a rich country comes to mind, it is believed that the people of these countries will also be prosperous and wealthy but the reality in this region is far from that. Africa is the world’s least developed Continent on the globe with 34 of the 49 poorest countries of the world belonging to this Continent. More than 40 per cent of its population lives on less than a dollar a day. Recent estimation shows that Africa is sinking deeper into the depths of poverty. The rate of poverty is increasing. Just a quarter of a century ago, people living below the poverty line consisted of 278 million people, that figure has increased today to 413 million people. The figure is only increasing day by day due to the looting of great powers. The GDP of African countries is so low that it does not make any significant impact to improve the quality of life of the African people. Thus, the African Continent is fast becoming a centre of global extreme poverty. According to an estimation by World Bank, if attention is not paid to this aspect, by 2030, 87 per cent of the people of Africa will be on the verge of poverty.
African countries should convince multinational companies to invest in Africa and work together to make the mining sector better and more productive.
Therefore, it is a matter of concern, why the most resource-abundant Continent is not able to reduce the effects of poverty there. It can be seen in a context that various factors such as colonialism, corruption, bad leadership, incompetence of institutions and border disputes have increased the backwardness of Africa due to which the abundance of natural resources did not have a significant impact on the life of the common man there.
For instance, the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most mineral-rich countries on Earth and despite the presence of almost major kinds of natural resources, it has been plagued by corruption since the times of western colonialism which has put the country in the ranks of the poorest countries. Resultantly, the people of Congo cannot benefit from the unexplored wealth, which is found in the form of natural resources and that is why the country is facing many challenges today. In 2022, about 63 per cent of Congolese, just under 60 million people, lived on less than $2.15 a day. About one in six people living in extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa live in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
To conclude, it can be stated that, Africa the Continent of rich resources, is not poor, but it is being managed by people with poor management skills. Poverty in African countries can be eliminated if natural resources are used in a better way and in the interest of African countries, instead of getting exploited by other countries. African countries need to transform democratic institutions, adopt good governance and combat corruption. As a way forward, African countries should convince multinational companies to invest in Africa and work together to make the mining sector better and more productive. Corruption in Africa remains one of the major reasons that the World’s richest Continent has the poorest people. For Africa to come to par with the rest of the world, it will have to get rid of its corrupt elite, which would be nothing less than revolutionary.
The writer is a freelance columnist.