U.S. tasks competitors to ‘make Africa’s resources benefit its people’

Mr. Rex Tillerson, United States Secretary of State.

The U.S. says ensuring the resources of Africa benefit the continent and its people, rather than engaging in illicit exploitation at the expense of the people is one of its major priorities.

The U.S. Department of State stated this against the background of the visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visit to Africa, accusing some of its “competitors” in the region of not helping Africa after exploiting its resources.

The department said the trip was to underscore the commitment of the U.S. to Africa and also to explore with the leadership in each of the countries about what they want to achieve, together as partners but also in U.S overall programme.

The department particularly noted sadly, the resources-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which did not benefit the country and its people but has been plunged into a cycle of violence.

“Let’s say, for instance, Congo, which is very rich in resources – where you see Russia, China, North Korea, Iran taking out resources, yet the Congolese don’t receive very much in benefits.

“How do you resolve that? How do you develop, how do you get these countries to really benefit from the resources that they have?

“Yet at the same time these countries such as China, Russia, Iran is also developing but also they give back a lot to the Africans?

“And that’s an issue and a question we need to pursue during this trip over,” the department said.

The U.S. said it was looking at how to really keep African resources and also development beneficial for the people of Africa, regretting the current growing indebtedness in Africa.

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“That’s not a good thing. We’re looking at other countries, not helpful countries, expropriating a lot of resources. And as you know, high rates of rare earth minerals and metal are from Africa.

“I mean, just one example is if your cell phone is 10 per cent of that material that comes from resources in Africa, in the next decade it’s going to be 25 per cent.

“Then that’s an issue of: How do we do rational allocation of resources? How do we benefit the people of Africa?

“How do we create jobs? How do we really develop Africa, and not just become a repository for the development of other regions of the world?”

The department said Africa in the year 2100 is going to form 40 per cent of the world’s population and over 30 per cent of the work force.

The department noted, however, the continent has the potential of having 50 per cent unemployment rate, saying it is a security issue, an economic issue problem, but more important, it is also an opportunity.

“And so the U. S. says, ‘How do we position ourselves to play a significant role in supporting Africa and also as a – to highlight this important relationship?’

“We said it’s going to be based on – not only on economic and commercial development, but in the context of building strong institutions, governance, and security, as well as human rights”.

The department stressed the bottom line of the U.S.-Africa engagement was really economic development, how to build strong institutions, and also to move forward in the future for Africa.

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