Africa has a lot going for its quest to be the richest continent in the world, if it so desires. It’s no news that when compared to other continents, Africa has a relatively youthful population. This suggests a future of energy and the ability to learn new technologies faster.
And nearly all experts report that Africa has mineral resources that can be converted for use in manufacturing production machineries and consumer goods.
Think of the iron, aluminum, bauxite, copper, gold, diamond, petroleum deposits and the agricultural crops that can adequately feed its agro-allied industries.
For instance, South Africa, just one African country, has the largest gold deposit in the world. Records indicate that South Africa has produced more than 40 percent of the world’s total gold sold to date.
As for petroleum, Libya, Nigeria and Algeria, respectively have 48.3 billion or 2.9 percent; 37.07 billion or 2.2 percent; and 22.2 billion or 0.7 percent, of the world’s petroleum deposits. If added together these three countries own 92 billion or 5.90 percent of the world’s petroleum deposits.
If you add petroleum deposits in Angola, Sudan, Egypt, Uganda, Gabon, Congo DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Tunisia, Cameroon, Niger Republic, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, South Africa, Benin Republic, Morocco and Ethiopia, Africa has roughly 7.763 percent of the world’s petroleum deposit – nearly one-twelfth of the world’s deposit.
Please do not be fooled by the hysteria of the climate change lobby, petroleum will still be in use for a long time to come. Of the 1.46 billion automobiles in the world, only about 6.8 million are electric cars.
Consider also the inventory of aircrafts, ships, boats and manufacturing plants and machinery still in use throughout the world. It will take a very long time to retire and replace these equipments.
As for diamonds, Africa is responsible for about 73 percent of the world’s production, with Botswana, Congo DRC and South Africa being respectively responsible for 34, 31 and 8 percent.
And Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Niger Republic, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Chad, Tunisia and Ivory Coast have 10.90 percent of the world’s arable land.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation defines arable land as agricultural land occupied by crops, both sown and harvested, during the same agricultural year. It also includes land devoted to feeding agricultural animals.
With its population of almost 60 percent or 726 million under 25 years old, out of a population of 1.216 billion, Africa is the continent of youths. It’s more pronounced with the figure of those between the ages of 15 and 24 being about 226 million, or 18.6 percent, going by 2015 reports.
The projection is that by 2030, youths, with a nominal figure in excess of the current 226 million, will be higher than 42 percent of Africa’s population. That assumes that there are no drops in childbirths as more females spend longer time in tertiary institutions.
“We must recognise that our economic independence resides in our African Union.” In his book, “Africa Must Unite,” he had a word for naysayers or those slow on the uptake of the idea of African unity and common economic market:
“To suggest that the time is not ripe for considering a political (and maybe, by extension an economic) union of Africa is to evade facts and ignore realities in Africa today. Here is a challenge which destiny has thrown to leaders of Africa.”
This reminds me of the suggestion of Prof Adebayo Adedeji, former Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa that Africa’s economy will profit greatly within one common market.
After a long time, this idea crystallised into the African Continental Free Trade Area with a mission to promote intra-Africa Trade, though it will also impact external trade with other continental unions, like the European Union that welcomes the initiative as a step to achieving continent-wide trade with Africa as a group.
AfCFTA should lead to bigger markets for African businesses, introduce continent-wide and enforceable standards, and eliminate non-tariff barriers as it leads to a common continental market with a single customs union.
To achieve the ideals of AfCFTA, and to exploit its primary commodities, Africa is going to have to embark on continent-scale sourcing for capital to fund massive research and development for a strong technological drive, without necessarily trying to reinvent the wheel. To adequately secure Africa’s future, the action should be of Marshall Plan proportion.
These are the irreducible minimum that Africa must achieve. Anything short will mean that Africa will forever remain at the lowest rung of the totem pole of global economic development. And that is not the place for a continent with so much human and natural resources that is waiting to be exploited for the good of its peoples.
To this you must add massive investment in infrastructure that includes continent-wide and extensive road networks, railway lines, cargo airports, electricity generating plants, home-grown newspapers, magazines, radio and television networks that reach the entire African continent.
These are the rather overwhelming barriers that Africa must overcome like one man, before it can begin to take advantage of the nearly limitless primary resources beneath its soil. There is just no other way. It’s a zero-sum game because there are no options.
To its primary resources or commodities, Africa must add value before approaching the international market. Otherwise, Africa will continue to sell its raw materials to the rest of the world and buy back the same commodities in the form of finished products.
Witness the shameless manner that Nigeria exports crude petroleum at relatively cheap rates dictated by the buyers, to turn around to import practically all its petroleum products needs from the metropolitan powers, and even some Asian Tiger nations, at some unconscionable and astronomical costs.
It’s probably necessary to state that as long as Africa must use plants, machinery and equipment made for climes different from the tropics, forever it will depend on foreign experts, spares and supplies. And this “foreign” equipment, to say the least, will forever have frequent breakdowns that will lead to delayed and inadequate production, thus causing scarcity of practically all goods, supposedly manufactured in Africa.
If Africa has adequate infrastructure and can manufacture its own production machinery and spare parts, it can achieve maximum use of its production capacity, to yield the advantages of large-scale production, and lower the unit cost of its production.
In short, Africa’s economic emancipation can only come from within Africa.
