Economic Systems in Africa

The African economic structure is one of the poorest in the world. Various issues spanning from diseases, less industrial growth to frequent outbreaks have plagued the economic structure of Africa and checked its growth. The Africa economic structure is an extreme one with per capita GDP ranging from $10, 497 to $328.

Africa Economic Structure: Overview

Africa is rich in natural resources. An example is the African mining industry, which is the mainstay of the continent. FDI is primarily targeted at this mining sector as Africa has the maximum deposits of almost all the precious metals in the world. Africa has 90% of the world’s cobalt, 98% of chromium, 90% of platinum, 50% of gold, 33% of uranium, 64% of manganese and 70% of tantalite. African countries are also known to have almost 70% of Coltan reserves, which is used in mobile phones. Also, Congo has 30% of the world’s diamonds whereas Guinea is the largest Bauxite exporter.

Some countries in Africa have experienced a faster growth than others. Regions such as Sudan, Angola and Guinea have been able to capitalize on their oil reserves and have expanded their oil production.

Africa Economic Structure: The Richest and the Poorest Economies

South Africa is the most developed economy of Africa. It has a well developed service sector that contributes 65.3% of the national GDP. The industry sector contributes 31.3% and the agriculture sector provides self sufficiency to the system with 3.4% of contributions. The work pool is strong with 17.32 million active people. However, unemployment in South African remains relatively high at 24.8% and its inflation rate reached 4.272 percent in 2010.

Comoros, on the other hand, is one of the poorest economies in the world with a GDP (PPP) of US$0.8 billion in 2010 and a GDP (PPP) per capita of US$1, 201.81. The service sector contributed the maximum to the economy with 56% of the GDP. The industry sector contributed 4% but the agriculture sector contributed 40%. unemployment rate went as high as 20% with more than 60% of the population living under the poverty line.