p Independent African countries want to become masters of their natural resources, and Soviet assistance in the development of their mineral wealth is designed to help them attain this goal. How rich is free Africa in this respect? What natural resources can be put at the service of the economy of the newly independent states? The continent’s potential fuel and power resources (according to Soviet estimates made in the 1970s) are: 149 billion tons of oil, 42,000 billion cubic metres of gas and 14.5 billion tons of condensate, of which 45 billion tons of oil, 33,000 billion cubic metres of gas and 9 billion tons of condensate can be extracted.

p Africa’s leading oil producers and exporters are Libya, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt and there is reason to believe that the number of oil and gas producing countries will increase.

p The continent ranks second in the capitalist world for reserves of uranium, that promising energy-yielding mineral, and accounts for 346,600 tons of the 1,039,000 tons of proved reserves of uranium in the capitalist and developing countries.

p Africa’s deposits of ferrous and alloying metals are among the biggest in the world.

p Its aggregate resources of iron ores are approximately 30 billion tons. Africa is a major supplier of iron ore on the world market. Its share in the total volume of iron ore exported by capitalist and developing countries is growing steadily: $ 470 million-worth of iron ore was shipped out 163 of Africa in 1971, and $ 885 million-worth in 1975.  [163•1  The proven resources of African iron ores have considerably increased following the discovery of major deposits in Guinea and Libya. Iron ore prospecting is conducted in Algeria, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and some other countries.

p Africa has about 404.5 million tons of manganese ore, or nearly one half of the total reserves in the capitalist countries. One of the biggest producers of manganese ore is Gabon which accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the continent’s total output. There are considerable resources of manganese ore in Ghana, Morocco, and the Ivory Coast.

p The continent has rich deposits of ores of non-ferrous metals. The biggest deposits of bauxites in Africa are in Guinea which has 63.5 per cent of Africa’s overall and 83.1 per cent of the proven and probable resources of high-grade bauxites (1,660 million and 1,156 million tons respectively). Large deposits of this critical raw material are also found in Ghana, Zaire, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone.

p Africa has vast copper deposits totalling 96,940,000 tons of which 48,810,000 tons are proven and probable. There are unique copper deposits in Zambia and Zaire—in the Copper Belt zone. There are small deposits of copper ore with a relatively high metal content in Mauritania, Egypt, the People’s Republic of the Congo, Morocco, Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

p As regards tin ore resources which are estimated at 375,000 tons, Africa occupies third place in the capitalist world. The biggest of those deposits are in Zaire (200,000 tons) and in Nigeria (100,000 tons).

p Mercury was found in two African countries—Algeria and Tunisia. Its total reserves on the continent are estimated at 18,700 tons, of which 18,000 tons are in Algeria.

p There are non-metallic minerals in many African countries, but special mention should be made of the continent’s unique phosphate resources. Of the total deposits of phosphorites in the industrial capitalist and the developing countries estimated at 67.5 billion tons, 68 per cent are concentrated in Africa. The biggest deposits are in the North of Africa—in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt. Morocco also has unique resources of phosphorites estimated at 164 40 billion tons, or more than 92 per cent of the continent’s total. Rich deposits have been discovered in Egypt in recent years. Lately major barite deposits were found in Algeria which now account for more than 71 per cent of the total African resources of this mineral.

p Data on the development of the national economy of young African states after they had attained political independence show that those of them which produce oil, copper, iron and other minerals have achieved the highest rates of industrial growth and export.

p Although certain progress has been made in the development of their mining industry, a considerable portion of mineral production in independent African states is still controlled by West European and US monopolies. But free Africa more and more confidently pursues a policy of restricting the influence of foreign capital or driving it out. While allowing foreign companies to invest in the mining industry, African governments establish control over their activity.

p As a rule, this policy of driving foreign capital out of the mining industry comes up against resistance from the overseas monopolies. There have been many instances in history when West European and US monopoly capital ignored African states’ legitimate demands to dispose of their natural resources, as was the case in Algeria following the nationalisation of iron ore mines in 1966. The same thing happened after the nationalisation of French companies in 1971, when the French Government not only recalled French technical personnel from Algeria, but also made attacks on some of the 700,000 Algerians working in France. The French Government began to boycott Algerian oil and tried to get other major consumers do the same.  [164•2  The giant Diamond Producter Consolidated African Selection Trust and the Lohnro Trust which owns goldfields in South Africa began to boycott Ghana in response to the nationalisation of their sister companies in the country.

p A typical feature of the changes that are taking place in the development of natural resources is the desire of the African states to process more raw materials locally. Some of them have already drawn up plans to this effect and presented corresponding demands to foreign companies.

p An important role in ensuring the fulfilment of these demands is played by the state sector in the mining industry which has been formed in almost all African countries. According to some estimates the state sector enterprises account for almost 100 per cent of the mineral production in Mauritania and Togo, 80 per cent in Algeria, 70 per cent in Libya, nearly 60 per cent in Tanzania, and more than 50 per cent in Zambia.

p An indicator of the increasing role of the state sector in independent African countries is the state’s participation in the formation of mixed mining companies together with foreign capital. By participating in these companies African states can employ additional capital and also control the activities of these companies, obtain modern technology and technical know-how, and train national personnel.

p In Africa’s Strategy for Development in the 1970s drawn up by OAU special emphasis was placed on the need for the African countries to join forces in finding, mining and utilising the continent’s mineral resources. Efforts are being made to formulate a uniform mining legislation and rules governing the exchange of geological and technical information on the development of key minerals.

p Taking into consideration the importance of natural resources for the economic development of African countries, the Conference of African Ministers of Industry which took place in Cairo in 1973 recommended the establishment of an African Minerals Council "responsible for promoting greater industrial processing in Africa of the continent’s mineral resources and the coordination of the policies of African countries to increase their income from* their natural resources".  [165•3 

p African countries are searching for opportunities to extend cooperation within the framework of the continent. For example, Guinea, Algeria, Nigeria, Liberia and Zaire have set up a company for exploiting iron ore deposits in Guinea. Part of the output is shared by the partners.

p African countries have also signed agreements with socialist countries’on cooperation in the development of mineral resources. This cooperation is effected in different forms depending on the wishes or arrangements worked out by 166 the sides. For instance, a mixed company for the extraction of complex ores with Romania as a partner has been set up in Kenya. The Central African Republic and Romania have signed an agreement on the establishment of a mixed association for prospecting and mining minerals in Central African Republic. In October 1973 the Algerian national association SONATRACH and the Polish KOPEX signed an agreement on prospecting and developing oilfields in Algeria.

In most cases, however, cooperation in the development of mineral resources takes the form of economic and technical assistance of the socialist countries to African government agencies in building enterprises for the extraction and processing of minerals.