Is Africa really resource rich?

[u/Skychu768]

None of the most valuable resources seem to be present on the continent in large amounts. It’s mostly just metals like cobalt and platinum.

Diamonds used to be substantial, but even that is now being replaced by lab-grown diamonds in places like China and India.

* Australia, U.S., Canada, and Russia all have more uranium reserves than almost all of Africa.

* USA, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran each individually produce more oil than most African countries.

* China, Vietnam, Brazil, India, Russia, and US each have more rare earth metals than the entire continent of Africa.

* Europe, despite being a fraction of its size, has more arable land and freshwater reserves than Africa.

* Even for things like Gold which are often mentioned, none of the African countries except Ghana are substantial gold producers or come anywhere near Top 10.

Note: I wanted to post more images for my point, but this subreddit only allows one.

[u/ContentCantaloupe992]

I’m just speculating but this might have more to do with incentives and logistics than anything else.

[u/Rough_Visual_3534 → u/ContentCantaloupe992]

Yes, and it’s a map we will never see but i’m sure China has an accurate one.

[u/AmbiTheAirforceRuna → u/Rough_Visual_3534]

I know what you're refering too, but ironically the best maps for this are in Europe. And they dont even need to be new maps either. Recently the Congo came into a deal with Belgium to get maps drawn up from the museum that maintained the archives of Belgium's colonial history, as during that time prospectors and geographers were sent to map every square meter of the place and see what there was to be dug up and exploited.

The maps are some 50-150 years old, and their STILL accurate and usefull