Natural resources of Africa

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Africa has a large quantity of natural resources, including diamonds, sugar, salt, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum, natural gas and cocoa beans, but also tropical timber and tropical fruit.

Recently discovered oil reserves have increased the importance of the commodity in African economies. Nigeria, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and South Sudan are among the largest oil producers in Africa.^[1] The United States and European countries took most of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) oil production. Oil is provided by both continental and offshore productions. Sudan's oil exports in 2010 are estimated by the United States Department of State at US$9 billion.^[2]

Five countries dominate Africa's upstream oil production. Together they account for 85% of the continent's oil production and are, in order, from highest to lowest output: Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Angola. Other African oil producing countries are Gabon, the DRC, Cameroon, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, and more recently, Ghana. Exploration is taking place in a number of other countries that aim to increase their output or become first-time producers. Included in this list are Chad, Sudan, Namibia, South Africa, and Madagascar, whilst Mozambique and Tanzania are potential oil producers.^[3]

Types of Natural Resources in Africa

A notable part of Africa’s natural resources are minerals:

• crude oil, natural gas, coal and charcoal.
• gold, silver, lead, iron ore, cobalt, zinc, and manganese.
• talc, limestone.
• diamonds, amethyst, emeralds, etc.