Africa remains a key territory on the global map. Rich in oil and natural resources, the continent holds a strategic position.
“There is yet an enormous amount of wealth left to discover,” he said.
It is the world’s fastest-growing region for foreign direct investment, and it has approximately 30 percent of the earth’s remaining mineral resources.
It’s home to more than 40 different nations, and around 2,000 languages. Sub-Saharan Africa has six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies. North Africa counts with vast oil and natural gas deposits; the Sahara holds the most strategic nuclear ore; and resources such as coltan, gold, and copper, among many others, are abundant on the continent.
The region is full of promise and untapped riches – from oil and minerals and land to vast amounts of people capital – yet, it has struggled since colonial times to truly realize its potential.
–Mapping Africa’s natural resources – Al Jazeera English
“There is yet an enormous amount of wealth left to discover,” he said.
Washington – The World Bank plans to launch in July a $1bn plan to map Africa’s natural resources with the aim of delineating more clearly the continent’s uncovered mineral wealth.
The project dubbed the Billion Dollar Map, “will unlock the true worth of Africa’s mineral endowment,” Tom Butler, mining specialist at the Bank’s private finance arm, the International Finance Corp., said Wednesday.
“Coupled with in-country training and institutional support, and the work of exploration companies, this initiative will unlock the true worth of Africa’s mineral endowment.”
The World Bank, which calls accessible data on resources a “public good”, said it has already invested over $200m in developing geological data for Africa over the past 10 years.
Currently, it is supporting a comprehensive airborne geological survey of the entire country of Malawi.