2011-07-26

Mining in Africa

Surely we all realize that Africa is changing so rapidly that it would soon be the continent with the most emerging markets. But being economically positive about the continent gives us another prospective to look through - the continent is getting more and more polluted due to production demand from international businesses and due to the influence of outsiders that do business in the region.

The most polluting sector, however, turns out to be mining in Africa. According to a survey by the Economist and supported by information by Reuters, mining companies such as Anglo American and Shell are not the main trouble for African peoples. Even though they have been the most active players in mining operations in the continent, the demands for socially responsible business from the global regulators have forced these companies to undertake a less harming approach when conducting business on the continent. The real threat is thus state-owned businesses and small developing corporations originating from Asia or another African country.

These establishments are yet unknown to some global regulators and thus are hard to regulate at all. They conduct mining of minerals, gold or diamonds and the pollution they cause equals to the emission and waste rates of coal power plants in China. For example, Nigerian oil business owners extract oil without having filter systems for waste water. Thus tribal areas near the extraction sites suffer from lack of fresh water while animal species have long left the territories due to pollution and severe damage to the plant life.

Another example are diamond mining companies in small areas of Kenya and Zimbabwe - these business players do not only work with outdated technology in order to save money but also export waste to border lands which causes pollution of the home state plus the neighbouring country.

Responses to such issues remain unclear as most of the regulators in Africa are easily overcome with bribes from such polluting companies. Global regulators thus do not receive information about the business operations related to mining in specific regions of Africa. And while Europeans drive hybrid cars UK produces or German green vehicles, Africans still work with outdated technology and inflict severe damages to the African environment.



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