Africa holds 60% of the world’s platinum deposits, more than 40% of the world’s gold and almost 90% of the world’s diamonds, not to mention substantial oil reserves that remain largely unexplored—yet it remains the world’s poorest continent, with 47% of the population living on less than $1.25 per day. No wonder there is a constant refrain in Africa: “If we are so rich, why are we so poor?” Terra Lawson-Remer and Joshua Greenstein examine how the global community can help Africa tackle the resource curse. Many resource-rich African countries make poor use of their wealth. Take Equatorial Guinea, a…
