Africa has a large quantity of natural resources including diamonds, salt, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum and cocoa beans, but also woods and tropical fruits. Much of its natural resources are undiscovered or barely harnessed. Having a low human density, for a long period of time Africa has been colonized by more dynamic groups, exploiting African resources. Some economists[who?] have talked about the 'scourge of raw materials', large quantities of rare raw materials putting Africa under heavy pressures and tensions, leading to wars and slow development.
![Picture](/uploads/5/0/0/8/50081135/883774117.gif)
This chart shows the percentage of how much of the resources shown is found and used.
![Picture](/uploads/5/0/0/8/50081135/381169242.png)
On average, resource-rich countries have done even more poorly than countries without resources. They have grown more slowly and with greater inequality—just the opposite of what one would expect. After all, taxing natural resources at high rates will not cause them to disappear, which means that countries whose major source of revenue is natural resources can use them to finance education, health care, development, and redistribution.
![Picture](/uploads/5/0/0/8/50081135/528813993.jpg?250)
This image shows that even children in Africa mining for gold and other resources to help their families out.
This video shows that even banks trust that Africa will use their money to benefit from it in mining for their abundant resources.
|