EDITORIAL PAGE — African opportunity

In South America, Chile played a leading role in attracting foreign mining companies, being the first to pass new laws which paved the way for foreign companies to explore for and develop mineral deposits. The Chilean template has since been applied by many other Latin American countries, with the result that activity today has spread across the continent.

In Africa — a continent with enormous geological potential — no single country seems to have accomplished what Chile did in South America. And yet, perhaps borrowing a page from the Latin development book, many countries have modified the rules of the game in an effort to attract companies from Canada and elsewhere. (The roles of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have been key in this regard.)

But now that South Africa has shunned apartheid and is moving toward a true participatory democracy, the pace of mine investment may well accelerate and a multi-racial South African government could well play the leading role in an economic renaissance of the sub-Sahara.

In the early history of post-colonial Africa, many newly independent states took their lead — politically, economically and socially — from the Soviet Union. Central planning, a socialist agenda and African-style single-party politics — these were the key features of such countries as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and the like.

South Africa, through the decolonization period of the 1950s and `60s and right up to the present day, remained an anomaly on the continent. It was rich, it was modern, it was capitalist, it was relatively stable (thanks largely to rather severe repression). In short, it was a country apart. Yet, because of apartheid, South African mining companies were not welcome in most sub-Saharan countries.

But in the past few years, there has been a convergence. First, white South Africa struggled to come to terms with Nelson Mandela and democratization. (The success of the recent election is a remarkable first step, although enormous political, social and economic hurdles still lie ahead.) Meanwhile, several sub-Saharan countries shed their tattered socialist clothes and donned capitalist apparel. In fact, it is estimated that 30 African countries have recently jettisoned their socialist economic policies in favor of a capitalist model.

Foreign mining companies, noting the change and accepting the invitation to explore, set up shop in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Zimbabwe and so on. Even South African companies, such as Anglo American, moved to gain a foothold in countries that, before, would never have welcomed them.

However, the activity we have seen to date will be seen as merely a first, feeble ripple in the tidal wave to come should the rebirth of South Africa prove sturdy and its acceptance into the family of sub-Saharan countries become a reality.

As our reporter Steven Dawson, who recently returned from a visit to Ivory Coast, points out in a front-page story, South Africa — with its modern infrastructure, its stock market and its capitalist mentality — could become the true economic heart of an economically vibrant sub-Saharan Africa. Such is the potential of the region. Only time will tell if it becomes reality.