As a continent endowed with a vast number of natural resources and high renewable-energy potential, Africa’s natural resources can be a platform for industrialisation if linkages with the rest of the economy are deliberately built.
This is the central thesis of the argument for equitable resource-based industrialisation (ERBI), as presented by economist Richard Goode during the African Green Resources, Energy and Economy conference, held on June 26 at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, Gauteng.
During his presentation, Goode noted that Africa’s comparative advantage spanned minerals, energy, agriculture, livestock, forestry, biomass, water, fisheries, aquaculture and tourism.
He noted that agriculture and forestry had unrealised processing and supply chain potential, adding that fisheries and aquaculture remained underdeveloped.
Goode explained that Africa remained under-surveyed geologically, adding that stronger geodata could reveal substantially greater resources. Hence, he argued that ERBI should link mineral corridors to agriculture, forestry, tourism and manufacturing, adding that mining should not be isolated from the wider economy.
