South Africa's Economy:
- Mixed with more of a market economy - Natural Resources: Gold and Diamonds - Modern infrastructure - Moderate entrepreneurship - Economically, on the rise; mining resources - Some consider it apart of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Nigeria's Economy: - Mixed with elements of command and market economies - Oil is "lifeblood" of it;s economy (95% of country's earnings from exports) -Government controls oil industry - Limited entrepreneurship, harder to start business than South Africa - Last year surpassed South Africa's economy - Poor people see little of the money made. Uranium: -Uranium is an element that is an essential part of nuclear weapons. -For that reason, there has been a brisk undercover trade in uranium between countries. - Also used to determine the age of artifacts. - Even used in some photographic chemicals. - Africa currently supplies about 20% of the world’s uranium. Oil: - One of Africa’s biggest natural resources is oil. - Some researchers estimate that about 30% of newly discovered oil deposits in the world today are going to come from Africa. - Most of the known reserves are in African countries along the Mediterranean coast. - Oil reserves should guarantee a country's economy to stay well (has not been the case in Sub-Saharan Africa, unfortunately.) - Profits from oil sales often go into the pockets of corrupt politicians and businessmen. (Ex: Good Luck Jonathan in Nigeria) Diamonds: - In some countries, diamond wealth has led to chaos. Stolen or smuggled diamonds have been sold on the world market to provide money for weapons for soldiers in a number of different wars and conflicts. - The dominate diamond company in South Africa is DeBeers. - In some areas, the wealth from diamond mining has been used for the good of the country. Gold: - South Africa has lead the African nations in the mining and sale of gold. - South Africa is believed to have approximately 40% of the world’s gold. - The South African government has been able to use much of the gold profit to improve the country and help its people. |