Message Board Archives

Three Indian nationals have been arrested in Ghana on suspicion of operating a gold smuggling syndicate that authorities believe has been taking tons of the precious metal out of the country for over a decade, the West African country's gold trading regulator said on Tuesday.
The three pleaded guilty at their arraignment and will remain in custody until a court hearing scheduled for May 12, a spokesperson for the regulator GoldBod said.
Source: Reuters

No continent has been plundered by Tom, Dick Harry and their siblings like Africa.

In reply to Chrissy

And they are still calling Africa poor despite the fact that many western and even eastern economies are dependent on African resources for their very economic existence.

In reply to Slipfeeler

Slippy

Africa's resource exploitation can be attributed to several interconnected factors:

Colonial Legacy: Historical exploitation during colonial times established patterns of resource extraction that persist today, often leaving countries with limited control over their resources.

Corruption and Governance Issues: Weak governance and corruption in some African nations can lead to mismanagement of resources and enable foreign companies to exploit these resources with little oversight.

Global Demand: High demand for natural resources like minerals, oil, and gas drives foreign investment, often prioritizing profit over sustainable development.

Economic Dependency: Many African economies rely heavily on resource exports, making them vulnerable to external pressures from multinational corporations.

Lack of Infrastructure: Underdeveloped infrastructure can limit local capacity to manage and process resources, leading to reliance on foreign companies for extraction and export.

Debt and Financial Pressure: Some countries face significant debt burdens, leading them to exploit resources to generate revenue quickly, sometimes at the expense of long-term sustainability.

Conflict and Instability: Resource-rich regions may experience conflict, which can exacerbate exploitation as various groups vie for control over lucrative assets.

Environmental Degradation: Exploitation often occurs without regard for environmental impact, leading to degradation that can harm local communities and ecosystems.

Sarge

In reply to sgtdjones

Environmental degradation in the wake of land degradation is not a cause, Sarge, but an effect. All your other enumerations are right on the money. I'll add one too, i.e. passiveness/weakness/laziness/'niceness' of the ordinary African man-in-the-street. He is too slow to recognise who and what his real enemies are.

The emerging antidote is Ibrahim Traore.

--Æ.