Which Resources Were Found Inside Africa’S Interior?

At the beginning of the 19th century, Europe, Asia, and North and South America were known, but Africa faced misconceptions about its natural features. One resource Europe sought from West Africa was gold, which Europeans wanted to enrich their treasuries. Africans expressed great jealousy at attempts to discover their country’s nature and produce. However, real exploration of the African interior began well into the 19th century.

Europeans found the climate debilitating, and much more was known about Africa than its coastline. In 1788, Joseph Banks founded the African Association to promote exploration of the continent’s interior. Around 150 CE, Ptolemy created a map of the world that included the Nile and the great lakes of East Africa. The Ottoman Empire blocked European access to Africa and its trade in the Middle Ages.

Landscape, climate, wildlife, vegetation, and the availability of natural resources all influenced early societies. 19th-century European explorers, including John Hanning Speke and Richard Francis Burton, explored the coast territories of Africa, particularly the coastal territories of the continent. Africa is an important source of diamonds, metals, gold, and uranium, and vast portions of the continent are extremely mountainous. European explorers focused on understanding the geography of Africa’s great river systems, hoping that rivers could provide resources for the industrial revolution.

Africa is rich in natural resources such as arable land, water, oil, natural gas, minerals, forests, and wildlife. The continent holds a huge proportion of the world’s natural resources.

What resources were traded in Africa?

Gold and salt were the main items traded in West Africa, with empires like Ghana and Mali being wealthy due to their gold mines. Other items included ivory, cloth, slaves, metal goods, and beads. Major trade centers in Western Africa were Timbuktu, Gao, Agadez, and Djenne, while seaport cities along the coast of North Africa were Marrakesh, Tunis, and Cairo. Major trade routes crossed the Sahara Desert between Western/Central Africa and port trade centers along the Mediterranean Sea.

The wealthy merchant caste, known as the Dyula people, lived in West Africa. Traders traveled in large caravans, carrying goods and people, with camels providing protection from bandits. Caravans advanced at a rate of 3 miles per hour and took about 40 days to cross the Sahara Desert.

What types of resources are found within Africa?

Africa holds significant mineral, natural gas, and oil reserves, as well as 40% of the world’s gold, 90% of chromium, and platinum. It also holds 65% of the world’s arable land and 10% of the planet’s internal renewable fresh water source. Natural capital accounts for 30-50% of total wealth in most African countries, with over 70% of sub-Saharan Africans relying on forests and woodlands for livelihoods. However, a significant portion of these resources is used unsustainably and lost through illegal activities, reducing the benefits generated over time.

Africa loses an estimated USD 195 billion annually of its natural capital through illicit financial flows, illegal mining, illegal logging, wildlife trade, unregulated fishing, and environmental degradation. Africa has the potential to harness its vast natural resources to finance development and ensure future growth and exploitation are results-oriented, climate resilient, and sustainable.

What resources were discovered in Africa?

Africa is rich in natural resources such as minerals such as crude oil, natural gas, coal, charcoal, gold, silver, lead, iron ore, cobalt, zinc, manganese, talc, limestone, diamonds, amethyst, emeralds, and more. These resources are also abundant in tropical timber and tropical fruit. Oil reserves have increased the importance of oil in African economies, with Nigeria, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and South Sudan being the largest producers.

The United States and European countries dominated the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s oil production, with Sudan’s exports estimated at $9 billion in 2010. Five countries dominate Africa’s upstream oil production, accounting for 85 percent of the continent’s oil production. Other African oil producing countries include Gabon, the DRC, Cameroon, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. Exploration is also taking place in Chad, Sudan, Namibia, South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

What has Africa discovered?

African inventions, including hand axes, fishing hooks, bows, arrows, and boats, date back tens of thousands of years before the advent of the written word. These significant advancements in human history represent a profound impact on the trajectory of history.

What resources are found in East Africa?

Tanzania is a country rich in natural resources, including precious metals, gemstones, and industrial minerals such as gold, diamonds, and silver. The region also boasts an extraordinary wildlife, with large areas designated as national parks or game reserves, including the world’s largest Selous game reserve. Other minerals found in the region include fluorspar, titanium, zirconium, gold, oil, gas, cobalt, nickel, diamonds, copper, coal, and iron ore. These resources make Tanzania an attractive tourist destination.

What is the Africa source?

AfricaSource is a publication of the Africa Center, offering comprehensive analysis and commentary on the individuals and occurrences that shape the present and future of the globe’s most vibrant regions. However, it should be noted that the views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Atlantic Council, its personnel, or its constituents.

What resources were taken from Africa during colonization?

Britain, like other European powers, sought to control African land for various commodities, including palm oil, gold, ivory, diamonds, cotton, rubber, and coal. By 1845, the British government abolished duties on palm oil, observing a quadrupling of imports. However, slave-raiding persisted among some British merchants due to the enormous profits involved. Britain pushed for “legitimate” means of trade, granting charters to companies to exploit trade across West Africa.

The Royal Niger Company (RNC) was the most successful, governed by George Goldie between 1879 and 1900. Goldie was instrumental in colonising Nigeria and South Africa by establishing mineral companies and using violence and intimidation similar to the slave trade. Britain used discriminatory policies to protect its merchants from local competition, enacting high tariffs on indigenous palm oil trade and confiscating goods of those not paying its fees.

This led to hostile opposition from locals, leading to the burning of farms and villages and beatings to crack down on growing opposition. Historian Siollun argues that the RNC appeared as if Britain had abolished indigenous slavery, replacing it with its own system of slave labor.

What items were obtained from the interior of the East African coast?

Interior communities received a variety of luxury items from the coast, including cloth, beads, porcelain, glass, guns, cowrie shells (which were used as currency), certain foodstuffs, and salt. These items were not previously observed in the interior.

What is Africa’s greatest resource?

Africa’s gold and diamonds are the two most profitable mineral resources, with Africa producing 680. 3 metric tons of gold in 2021 and 65% of the world’s diamonds annually. However, conflict diamonds, or blood diamonds, have caused and funded numerous African conflicts and civil wars. In 2003, the United Nations created the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) to certify diamonds from conflict-free regions and prevent diamond sales from financing wars. Despite its success, critics argue it does not address human rights or environmental degradation concerns.

Who has the most resources in Africa?

South Africa, a top continent for minerals, boasts 35 gold mines, abundant coal, diamonds, iron ore, chromium, and the world’s largest manganese and platinum group metal reserves. However, the country faces challenges such as high crime rates, expensive electricity supply, logistical bottlenecks, and a backlog of around 4, 000 mining and exploration permits. Despite these challenges, South Africa’s annual minerals production is $124, 963mn.

What resources did they have in the interior of Africa?

In the 19th century, Europeans sought to obtain raw materials, including rubber, timber, diamonds, and gold, from Africa. They also sought to protect trade routes, which led to further expansion and colonization of the continent.