Mining and Mineral Resources in Africa

• Mining is defined as the extraction of precious minerals and other useful materials from the Earth through open cast or deep shaft methods.
• Mineral mining is an important part of Africa's economy by providing employment and foreign exchange earnings.
• Africa has 99% of world's chromite reserves, 85% of platinum, 81% of phosphate, 68% of cobalt, and 54% of gold.
• Africa produces 70% of the world's platinum, 54% of its cobalt and 16% of its bauxite.
• Africa has considerable quantities of petroleum and the largest reserve of manganese.

Mineral Ranking in African Countries

• Minerals are the top export in 28 countries including CAR, Congo, Tanzania, and Eritrea.
• Minerals rank second in exports in 13 countries including Angola, Ghana, Sudan, and Zambia.
• Minerals rank third in exports in 12 countries including Algeria, Botswana, DRC, and South Africa.
• Mineral production provides a substantial number of jobs in Africa.

Evolution of Mineral Production in Africa

• Mineral production in Africa predates the colonial period.
• From ancient Egypt to the colonial era Africans learned to find, exploit and use minerals.
• The mineral wealth of some African countries led to important civilizations such as Western Sudanese Empires.
• Gold was prominent in the Asante and Zimbabwe Kingdoms.
• Iron ore was mined among the people of North and South Africa.
• Copper was mined and used in areas such as Zambia and DRC.

Colonial Period

• The colonial period established European control over mineral production in Africa.
• Colonial mining began in South Africa with the exploitation of copper deposits in the 1850s.
• The discovery of diamonds and gold raised the profile of colonial mining in South Africa.
• Approximately 30,000 individual prospectors moved to South Africa.
• Uncontrolled digging occurred due to a lack of sophisticated technologies and capital investment.
• DeBeers and Kimberly Mines consolidated resources in 1889.
• Two types of mining were introduced to Africa:
  • The mining system of precolonial era, which is Artisanal mining.
  • The Corporate-based mining system, which is industrial/large-scale mining.
• Company towns were established.

Postcolonial Era

• After Africa gained independence, the mining sector was dominated by foreign subsidiary firms.
• The sector offered fewer and low-skilled jobs to the African population (Zambia 15%, DRC 2%).
• Nationalization of mining operations occurred leading to:
  • Managerial incompetence.
  • Financial mismanagement.
  • Political interference.
  • Low investments.

Mineral Production in East Africa

• East Africa has a wide variety of minerals, only a few deposits are large enough to be valuable.
• Many minerals are not being exploited.
• The distribution of these minerals depends on the underlying geological formations.
• Exploitation of minerals depends on:
  • Deposit size and/or amount.
  • Mineral accessibility.
  • World prices of the commodity.
  • Politics.

Important Minerals by Country

• Tanzania has diamond, gold, tin, phosphate, coal and iron ore.
• Uganda has copper, tin, phosphate, petroleum, oil, beryl, and gold.
• Kenya has gold.
• Rwanda has tin.
• Beryl is mined on a small-scale in South-West Uganda and is used for the atomic energy and fatigue resistant alloys.
• Large deposits of oil have been discovered in Uganda, which has 6.5 billion barrels of crude oil reserves.
• There is increased small-scale gold mining activity in the region.

Challenges of Mineral Production in East Africa

• Low rents/taxes occur.
• Environmental degradation increases.
• Social vices arise.

Enhancing Benefits of the Mining Industry

• Implement reasonable negotiations and ensure mutually acceptable balance between investor and country interests.
• Consider time factors such as market conditions.
• uphold human rights.
• Consider the host countries' political and economic situation.

Marine Resources

• Fisheries are classified by location as:
• Ocean/marine fisheries that consist of open seas.
• Inland fisheries that extract from inland waters.
• Fisheries are classified by technological sophistication as either artisanal or industrial.
• Industrial fisheries use advanced equipment and technologies like boats propelled by gas/electric engines with sophisticated fishing gear.
• Marine fishes are broadly classified as:
  • Demersals, which live at or near the bottom, and include cod, haddock, hake, pollock and the flatfish family.
• Pelagics, that live near the surface and include herrings or tuna
• The Luo people of Kenya use fishing for engagement and developed several methods of fishing that include:
  • The use of basket traps and herding for lake fishing.
  • Stockades and weirs for fishing in rivers and areas of Lake Victoria.
• Fisheries in the colonial era were not a priority compared to farming and mining.
• The colonial government enacted a law in 1933 setting the minimum mesh for gill nets at 127mm.
• The indigenous species declined as number of fishermen increased, and colonial admin introduced 4 species of tilapia to the lake from 1952-1963.

Colonial Period

• Establishment of fisheries institutions and commissioning of several fisheries studies included:
  • The Lake Victoria Fisheries Service of 1947.
  • The East Africa Fisheries Research in Zanzibar.

Postcolonial Era

• Fishing was commercialized.
• Colonial institutions were dismantled.
• Post-colonial Period:
  • Over dependence on fishery resources occurs.
  • Illegal fishing gear is used.
  • Illegal methods of fishing are undertaken.
  • Harvesting of endangered species occurs.
• The African Fisheries Reform Strategy was introduced.