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With the exception of South Africa and the countries of North Africa, all of which have diversified production systems, the economy of most of Africa can be characterized as underdeveloped. Africa as a whole has abundant natural resources, but much of its economy has remained predominantly agricultural, and subsistence farming still engages more than 60 percent of the population. Until the beginning of the 20th century this system of farming relied on simple tools and techniques, as well as on traditional organization of the family or community for its labour. Because of poor transport and communications, production was largely for domestic use. There was little long-distance trade, and wage labour was virtually unknown. The small size and vast heterogeneity of polities at that time also made exchanges very limited. There were, however, notable exceptions, especially in western Africa, where for many centuries societies had engaged in long-distance trade and had elaborate exchange and craft facilities, communications, and a political infrastructure to maintain their trade routes. Africa experienced considerable economic development during the 20th century, and, while this provided many benefits, it also gave rise to a number of serious problems. The first significant changes occurred under colonial rule in the first half of the century: wage labour was introduced, transportation and communications were improved, and resources were widely developed in the colonial territories. The legacy of this, however, has been that the export of two or three major agricultural products or minerals—such as peanuts, petroleum, or copper—has come to provide most of the foreign-exchange earnings for nearly all African countries. Fluctuations in the prices of these commodities have made the economies of these countries vulnerable and fragile. The situation has been exacerbated in countries in the marginal dryland zones, where the increasing frequency of drought conditions have undermined agricultural productivity. The second major change was the vigorous promotion of industrial development, often with foreign assistance, that took place in the two decades (1960–80) following the political independence of most African countries. The political fragmentation of the continent, however, also became a major constraint to industrial growth, because it created numerous small markets. Consequently, most African countries became saddled with excess industrial capacity, coupled with enormous foreign debts incurred in large part to build this capacity. In nearly all African countries a poor economic situation has been aggravated by rapid population growth, which has kept per capita gross domestic product low or in some cases caused it to decline. Thus, any hope for improving economic conditions in most of Africa rests on two factors: population control within individual countries to give their economies the chance to grow; and the organization of groups of states into regional economic blocs in order to create internal markets large enough to sustain growth. Africa’s known mineral wealth places it among the world’s richest continents. Its very large share of the world’s mineral resources includes coal, petroleum, natural gas, uranium, radium, low-cost thorium, iron ores, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, zinc, tin, bauxite, titanium, antimony, gold, platinum, tantalum, germanium, lithium, phosphates, and diamonds. Major deposits of coal are confined to four groups of coal basins—in Southern Africa, North Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria. Proven petroleum reserves in North Africa occur in Libya, Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia. Exploration has been concentrated north of the Aïr–Ahaggar massifs; there may also be major Saharan reserves to the south. The other major oil reserves are in the western coastal basin—mainly in Nigeria and also in Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of the Congo—and in Angola and South Sudan. Natural gas reserves are concentrated in basins of North Africa and coastal central Africa. Southern Africa is said to be one of the world’s seven major uranium provinces. In South Africa the unusual degree of knowledge of reserves derives from the joint occurrence of uranium with gold, a condition that also decreases the cost of production. Other countries with significant uranium deposits are Niger, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Namibia.
Introduction to North African Economies Informal and Formal Economies For a review of basic economic activities in all of Africa please link to Module Nine African Economies, Activity One, Needs and Wants.
Daily Lives Agriculture and foodAgriculture is still one of the most important sectors of the economies of North Africa, both for feeding the population and for export. The number of people employed in agriculture varies by country: about 50% in Morocco, 40% in Egypt, 25% in Algeria and probably even fewer in Libya which imports close to 75% of its food. The region depends on its fertile areas to grow crops, including oranges and other citrus fruits; grains like barley, wheat, oats and even corn; vegetables, including tomatoes that are shipped to the U.S., onions, peppers and eggplants; legumes like lentils and chickpeas; and other Mediterranean and arid produce, like nuts, olives, grapes (for eating and to produce wine), dates and figs in abundance. In the Nile Valley, Egyptians also cultivate crops that need more water, including sugarcane, cotton and even rice. For a review of agricultural production in Africa (including an interactive map) please link to Module Nine African Economies, Activity Two, Food Production
Marginal lands in North Africa provide scrub for a large livestock livelihood, especially for sheep but also for cows, goats, poultry, and, of course, camels, horses, donkeys, and mules. The seas provide fish both for consumption and for export.
Minerals and other Natural ResourcesMuch of North Africa is mineral rich. As you remember from Learning Activity Three the Western Sahara is a major phosphate producer. The region also has deposits of other minerals including iron ore, silver, zinc, copper, lead, manganese, barytine, gold, salt, limestone, gypsum, and coal (in Morocco). Petroleum and natural gas exports provide most of Libya’s revenues, but the rest of the region also contains sizeable deposits of these resources, especially Algeria and Egypt. Lastly, North Africa also produces forest products, including furniture and cabinet wood, and is a leading producer of cork. Industry, commerce and production basesAs the countries of North Africa industrialize, their manufacturing and production capacities tend to start with their major resources exports and branch out into other industries. For example, Egypt has grown a flourishing textile industry from its cotton resources, Morocco produces leather goods from its livestock resources, Algeria refines and bottles its olive oil, Tunisia manufactures wood products, and Libya refines its oil and natural gas resources. Across the region these and other industries—including textile and leather goods manufacturing, food and beverage (especially wine) processing, construction materials fabrication, chemical and fertilizer producing, metallurgy including iron and steel making as well as jewelry crafting, and even paper milling—are providing increasing employment for urban workers (as well as rural workers in areas like mining minerals, raising livestock, and extracting oil and gas).
Tourism Remittances
Implications of development and globalizationLike the rest of Africa, North African countries are called developing nations because they have a significantly lower GDP than the industrialized nations of Europe, North America, and Asia. Since shortly after World War Two, there has been a movement to “develop” the rest of the world in line with the industrial development of Western Europe and the United States and Canada. Throughout the course of this movement, the goals of this development have changed, from economic modernization to provision of social services to the poor to redesign of economic systems to political and social empowerment of populations.
Development is also expanding beyond purely economic concerns. Development also relates to social-cultural change as well as environmental concerns. Sustainable development is based on a concept that no one should take more from the environment than it can sustain, and that we should leave enough for future generations. These messages highlight how people in the developed world, especially the United States, use far more resources than other people and that to be good neighbors, and to survive, we also need to change our behavior, and to develop new and better ways of conserving the world’s natural assets.
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LinksSustainable Development International Institute for Sustainable Development The United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Environment Programme The World Bank The International Monetary Fund The Global Development Network The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs This is the final activity in this module. Return to the curriculum, go on to Module Seventeen, or select from one of the other activities in this module Glossary |