Natural resources are for the people. The profits derived from them should benefit them and not a leader, company or a particular individual supposed to be the owner of the land where the natural resource was found.
In Africa, the situation is different as the continent continues to lag behind despite its sheer wealth in natural resources.
More than 500 years after commercial exploitation of Africa’s resources, Africa continues to host many unexploited deposits of minerals worldwide.
Yet, the continent is doing more poorly than countries without resources, with slow economic growth and greater inequality.
This has been blamed largely on conditions that do not favour Africans, including tax holidays given to mining companies, and the lack of political will and vision by leaders as to what to do with the natural resources.
Here are 6 key natural resources that are benefitting the world instead of Africa: