British companies have taken over control of key African energy and mineral resources, a report by War on Want, the UK based development NGO, has shown. Authored by Mark Curtis, a historian and journalist, the report just out listed the key mineral and energy resources to include gold, diamond, copper, platinum and the three key energy forms – oil, gas and coal.
The British companies are said to enjoy the backing of the British State in the penetration of Africa’s strategic resources on terms most unfavourable to the local people, environment and even the typical African nation state. In some cases, the backing of the British State included board appointment in mining companies for government officials. The report entitled ‘The New Colonialism: Britain’s scramble for Africa’s energy and mineral resources’ compared this round of privileged access to resources to the 19th century ‘Scramble for Africa’ . It is downloadable from War on Want’s website.
