By Martin Namasaka (PfAL@LSE, 2014-15, candidate)
In a remote corner of south eastern Guinea, the lush green highlands of Simandou are at the centre of a transformation being felt all over Africa after the discovery of one of the world’s richest and most coveted repositories of iron ore, the core ingredient of making steel. Today multinational companies are competing for a stake in Simandou’s ore, with billions of dollars of investment in prospect.
Together with recent landmark discoveries of natural resources in Ghana, Uganda, DR Congo, Kenya (now ranked Africa’s fastest growing economy), Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Tanzania and many more, Africa is standing on the edge of an enormous opportunity in the global economy. But historically, these resources have often been more of a curse than a blessing leading to a variety of explanations for the failure to convert their natural resources into development assets.
Read the full article in the Africa at LSE blog.