More resources, more problems: Understanding the African mining landscape
By Arjen de Bruin, Managing Director at OIM Consulting
The African continent is richly endowed in natural resources, with platinum, silver, gold, copper and cobalt some of our best-known commodities. We’re also abundant in green commodities, such as uranium, phosphate and vanadium. As a result, the mining sector is a key contributor to the continent’s economies, responsible for a significant portion of Africa’s exports, fiscal revenues, and, of course, employment.
Yet in almost equal proportion, we’re a continent rich in problems – which, in turn, impacts the same sector we so heavily rely on – mining.
Macro-economic challenges
In South Africa, load shedding has dealt the sector a sharp blow, with hours of downtime and wasted capacity, while ongoing transport challenges see mines stru...
