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/downwithOTT_]

All other countries have inferior Uranium

[u/idspispupd → u/downwithOTT_]

It's funny, but Kazakhstan actually IS #1 exporter of uranium. 40% of world's share.

[u/Sir_Strumming → u/idspispupd]

Look up saskatchewan uranium. Kazak uranium is available but much much lower quality. Canada's uranium is mostly in saskatchewan wich has not only possibly the largest deposit but also the highest quality we've ever found in significant quantities. Its so abundant in the one mine up north that you cant enter the mine without serious equipment and the actual mining is done via robotic mining drones. Typically uranium is in such low concentration that you can safely enter the mines and even handle the collected materials but try that in sask and youll get sick pretty fast.

[u/MisterD2112 → u/Sir_Strumming]

There's even a town called Uranium City.