Natural resources

Natural resources in Africa

Which country has what: oil, gas, metals, gemstones, forests and land across all 54 African countries, with a map, world rankings and a page for each country.

Map of Africa's natural resources: the largest source of resource rents in each countryColour shows which resource earns each country the most, as a share of GDP. Hover over a country to see where it ranks in Africa, or click it for the full page.

Oil (11)
Natural gas (0)
Minerals (16)
Coal (2)
Forests (25)
No rents published

Sources: World Bank resource rents (latest year to 2021), U.S. Energy Information Administration oil and gas output, EIA reserves via Our World in Data, U.S. Geological Survey world rankings, UN Comtrade exports.

Africa's share of world mine productionCombined share of the African producers the U.S. Geological Survey names, 2025. Hover a bar for the largest African producer.

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Item	Detail	Value (%)
Tantalum	Largest: Democratic Republic of the Congo (52% of world)	85.3
Platinum (platinum)	Largest: South Africa (70.6% of world)	81.2
Cobalt	Largest: Democratic Republic of the Congo (74.2% of world)	75.5
Manganese	Largest: South Africa (38% of world)	74.8
Chromium	Largest: South Africa (45.1% of world)	49.0
Zirconium	Largest: South Africa (22.5% of world)	45.9
Vermiculite	Largest: South Africa (34.8% of world)	45.7
Palladium (palladium)	Largest: South Africa (36.8% of world)	44.7
Phosphate Rock	Largest: Morocco (14.4% of world)	21.4
Mica (mica (Scrap and flake): production)	Largest: Madagascar (20% of world)	20.0
Copper	Largest: Democratic Republic of the Congo (13.9% of world)	18.0
Pumice And Pumicite	Largest: Algeria (4.5% of world)	14.8
Lithium	Largest: Zimbabwe (9.7% of world)	12.9
Tin	Largest: Democratic Republic of the Congo (9.3% of world)	12.1
Graphite	Largest: Madagascar (4.4% of world)	11.9

Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Africa's largest oil producers, 2025Crude oil including lease condensate, thousand barrels a day.

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Item	Value
Nigeria	1,605
Libya	1,363
Algeria	1,143
Angola	1,031
Egypt	505
Congo	241
Gabon	239
Ghana	183
Chad	126
South Sudan	113
Niger	101
Senegal	100
Equatorial Guinea	76
Cameroon	59
Côte d'Ivoire	55
Sudan	30
Tunisia	25
Democratic Republic of the Congo	16

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Africa's largest proved oil reservesBillion barrels, 2021.

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Item	Value
Libya	48.4
Nigeria	36.9
Algeria	12.2
Angola	7.8
Sudan	5.0
Egypt	3.3
Congo	2.9
Uganda	2.5
Gabon	2.0
Chad	1.5
Equatorial Guinea	1.1
Ghana	0.7
Tunisia	0.4
Cameroon	0.2
Democratic Republic of the Congo	0.2
Niger	0.1
Côte d'Ivoire	0.1
Mauritania	0.0
South Africa	0.0
Benin	0.0
Morocco	0.0
Ethiopia	0.0

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, via Our World in Data. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Africa's largest natural gas producers, 2024Dry natural gas, billion cubic metres.

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Item	Value
Algeria	98.8
Egypt	47.5
Nigeria	39.1
Mozambique	12.2
Libya	12.1
Equatorial Guinea	6.7
Angola	5.8
Ghana	3.4
Côte d'Ivoire	2.7
Cameroon	2.5
Tanzania	2.0
Congo	1.8
Tunisia	1.2
Gabon	0.5

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Africa's largest proved natural gas reservesTrillion cubic metres, 2021.

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Item	Value
Nigeria	5.76
Algeria	4.50
Mozambique	2.83
Egypt	1.78
Libya	1.50
Angola	0.34
Congo	0.28
Equatorial Guinea	0.14
Cameroon	0.14
Sudan	0.08
Tunisia	0.07
Namibia	0.06
Rwanda	0.06
Côte d'Ivoire	0.03
Mauritania	0.03
Gabon	0.03
Ethiopia	0.02
Ghana	0.02
Uganda	0.01
Tanzania	0.01
Somalia	0.01
Morocco	0.00
Benin	0.00
Democratic Republic of the Congo	0.00

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, via Our World in Data. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Where natural resources weigh most in the economyTotal natural resource rents, % of GDP, latest year to 2021.

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Item	Value (%)
Libya	61.0
Democratic Republic of the Congo	38.8
Congo	37.7
Zambia	35.3
Angola	30.0
Eritrea	27.0
Equatorial Guinea	23.5
Algeria	22.6
Liberia	21.9
Chad	21.3
Burkina Faso	20.1
Gabon	18.5
Mali	18.4
Cabo Verde	17.7
Mozambique	14.9
Burundi	14.0
Ghana	13.3
South Sudan	13.1
Sudan	12.8
Mauritania	11.4
Somalia	11.2
Guinea-Bissau	10.4
Central African Republic	10.3
Sierra Leone	9.0
Nigeria	8.6
Togo	7.9
Uganda	7.5
South Africa	7.3
Tanzania	6.7
Niger	6.4
Zimbabwe	6.4
Ethiopia	5.9
Madagascar	5.5
Cameroon	5.5
Egypt	5.1
Côte d'Ivoire	4.7
Guinea	4.5
Senegal	4.4
Lesotho	4.3
Malawi	4.2
Namibia	4.0
Rwanda	4.0
Eswatini	3.0
Gambia	2.9
Benin	2.3
Tunisia	2.2
São Tomé and Príncipe	1.9
Comoros	1.6
Kenya	1.2
Botswana	1.0
Morocco	0.4
Djibouti	0.3
Seychelles	0.1
Mauritius	0.0

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Natural resources of all 54 African countriesClick a heading to sort. Search by name. Each country links to its own page.

Showing 54 of 54

Rank
8	Algeria	Oil	22.6	1,143	98.8	94.2	5th in pumice and pumicite	0.7
5	Angola	Oil	30.0	1,031	5.8	89.0	Not published	51.2
45	Benin	Forests	2.3	Not published	Not published	0.0	Not published	28.1
50	Botswana	Coal	1.0	Not published	Not published	84.6	3rd in soda ash (natural)	27.8
11	Burkina Faso	Minerals	20.1	Not published	Not published	84.7	Not published	12.3
16	Burundi	Forests	14.0	Not published	Not published	21.7	10th in tantalum	10.9
14	Cabo Verde	Coal	17.7	Not published	Not published	0.0	Not published	12.5
33	Cameroon	Forests	5.5	59	2.5	66.2	12th in pumice and pumicite	40.7
23	Central African Republic	Forests	10.3	Not published	Not published	27.5	Not published	72.5
10	Chad	Oil	21.3	126	Not published	91.3	Not published	3.0
48	Comoros	Forests	1.6	Not published	Not published	0.2	Not published	17.8
3	Congo	Oil	37.7	241	1.8	97.8	Not published	64.0
36	Côte d'Ivoire	Minerals	4.7	55	2.7	29.7	8th in manganese	12.1
2	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Minerals	38.8	16	Not published	83.5	1st in cobalt	61.5
52	Djibouti	Forests	0.3	Not published	Not published	1.7	Not published	0.3
35	Egypt	Oil	5.1	505	47.5	31.6	7th in phosphate rock	0.0
7	Equatorial Guinea	Oil	23.5	76	6.7	91.8	Not published	86.1
6	Eritrea	Minerals	27.0	Not published	Not published	96.3	Not published	12.0
43	Eswatini	Forests	3.0	Not published	Not published	10.3	Not published	25.3
32	Ethiopia	Forests	5.9	Not published	Not published	0.9	5th in soda ash (natural)	23.8
12	Gabon	Oil	18.5	239	0.5	84.0	2nd in manganese	91.4
44	Gambia	Forests	2.9	Not published	Not published	30.1	Not published	21.3
17	Ghana	Minerals	13.3	183	3.4	74.2	3rd in manganese	30.9
37	Guinea	Forests	4.5	Not published	Not published	90.8	Not published	20.0
22	Guinea-Bissau	Forests	10.4	Not published	Not published	0.3	Not published	74.8
49	Kenya	Forests	1.2	Not published	Not published	17.0	4th in soda ash (natural)	6.6
39	Lesotho	Forests	4.3	Not published	Not published	23.8	Not published	1.1
9	Liberia	Forests	21.9	Not published	Not published	44.9	Not published	66.1
1	Libya	Oil	61.0	1,363	12.1	96.4	Not published	0.1
34	Madagascar	Forests	5.5	Not published	Not published	36.6	2nd in mica (mica (scrap and flake): production)	17.3
40	Malawi	Forests	4.2	Not published	Not published	1.3	Not published	22.0
13	Mali	Minerals	18.4	Not published	Not published	77.3	7th in lithium	8.7
20	Mauritania	Minerals	11.4	Not published	Not published	73.7	16th in iron ore (usable ore)	1.0
54	Mauritius	Forests	0.0	Not published	Not published	5.0	Not published	19.1
51	Morocco	Minerals	0.4	Not published	Not published	5.3	2nd in phosphate rock	12.8
15	Mozambique	Forests	14.9	Not published	12.2	83.7	2nd in titanium mineral concentrates (ilmenite)	41.3
41	Namibia	Minerals	4.0	Not published	Not published	70.3	Not published	9.8
30	Niger	Forests	6.4	101	Not published	96.2	Not published	0.8
25	Nigeria	Oil	8.6	1,605	39.1	87.4	3rd in tantalum	18.9
42	Rwanda	Forests	4.0	Not published	Not published	47.9	2nd in tantalum	26.1
47	São Tomé and Príncipe	Forests	1.9	Not published	Not published	1.0	Not published	57.6
38	Senegal	Minerals	4.4	100	Not published	66.9	4th in clays (fuller’s earth)	45.0
53	Seychelles	Forests	0.1	Not published	Not published	31.2	Not published	58.5
24	Sierra Leone	Forests	9.0	Not published	Not published	80.5	2nd in titanium mineral concentrates (rutile)	34.0
21	Somalia	Forests	11.2	Not published	Not published	2.0	Not published	7.8
28	South Africa	Minerals	7.3	Not published	Not published	48.9	1st in platinum (platinum)	18.8
18	South Sudan	Oil	13.1	113	Not published	99.5	Not published	11.3
19	Sudan	Minerals	12.8	30	Not published	43.9	Not published	11.9
29	Tanzania	Minerals	6.7	Not published	2.0	57.0	3rd in graphite	49.6
26	Togo	Minerals	7.9	Not published	Not published	32.2	18th in phosphate rock	22.5
46	Tunisia	Oil	2.2	25	1.2	9.1	10th in phosphate rock	4.4
27	Uganda	Forests	7.5	Not published	Not published	53.4	6th in pumice and pumicite	11.9
4	Zambia	Minerals	35.3	Not published	Not published	80.0	7th in copper	60.5
31	Zimbabwe	Minerals	6.4	Not published	Not published	70.9	3rd in platinum (platinum)	35.7

Source: World Bank; U.S. Energy Information Administration; U.S. Geological Survey; UN Comtrade. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Natural resources by country

Method and sources

The map and the dependence ranking use World Bank resource rents: the value of oil, gas, coal, minerals and timber extracted, minus the cost of extracting them, as a share of GDP. World mineral shares are from the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries and count only the African producers USGS names, so the true African share can be a little higher. Oil, gas and coal output are from the U.S. Energy Information Administration; oil and gas reserves are EIA figures republished by Our World in Data. Export shares are from UN Comtrade. Nothing is estimated by us. Figures last checked on 24 October 2026.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the main natural resources in Africa?

Africa's natural resources include oil, natural gas, tantalum, platinum, cobalt, manganese, chromium, zirconium, vermiculite and palladium and timber, spread unevenly across 54 countries. African countries produced 85.3% of the world's tantalum, 81.2% of the world's platinum (platinum), 75.5% of the world's cobalt and 74.8% of the world's manganese in 2025, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The largest oil producers were Nigeria, Libya and Algeria, and Libya holds the largest proved oil reserves, 48.4 billion barrels. Natural resources matter most to Libya (61% of GDP), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (38.8% of GDP) and Congo (37.7% of GDP).

Which minerals does Africa produce most of?

tantalum (85.3% of world output, led by Democratic Republic of the Congo), platinum (platinum) (81.2% of world output, led by South Africa), cobalt (75.5% of world output, led by Democratic Republic of the Congo), manganese (74.8% of world output, led by South Africa), chromium (49% of world output, led by South Africa) and zirconium (45.9% of world output, led by South Africa), in 2025.

Which African country produces the most oil?

Nigeria, about 1,605,414 barrels a day in 2025, followed by Libya, Algeria and Angola.

Which African country has the largest oil reserves?

Libya, with 48.4 billion barrels of proved reserves (2021), followed by Nigeria and Algeria.

Which African country has the most natural gas?

Nigeria has the largest proved gas reserves, 5.8 trillion cubic metres. Algeria produces the most, 98.8 billion cubic metres in 2024.

Which African countries depend most on natural resources?

By resource rents as a share of GDP: Libya (61%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (38.8%), Congo (37.7%), Zambia (35.3%) and Angola (30%).