# Africa's resources & the rise of a new Cold War **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 26, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africas-resources-the-rise-of-a-new-cold-war/579786 "2011-04-26T17:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africas-resources-the-rise-of-a-new-cold-war/579786/61 "2011-04-29T07:40:44Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Today, it remains a farming and mining based economy. That’s actually not true. Mining is 3% of GDP, Farming 2.6%, whereas Manufacturing is 15% and the Service sector is also strong (Tourism being equal to the Mining and Agriculture sectors as a GDP%, telecomms being even larger. Financial markets are also a large and growing sector.) let’s not forget such things as SAB-Miller. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Jacquelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Le\_Jacquelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Jacquelope)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africas-resources-the-rise-of-a-new-cold-war/579786/62 "2011-04-29T08:31:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Well, that’s the real question; in the end, will they get a better deal? Or will the Chinese just end up being the next round of colonialist exploiters? I would certainly hope for the former, but history makes me worry it will be the latter; the providers of resources seldom end up getting the good end of the deal. China is only there to take resources. They are also known for selling arms to dictators. The United States does, too, far moreso than China. But China is not in this for anything but the exploitation of Africa. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africas-resources-the-rise-of-a-new-cold-war/579786/63 "2011-04-29T10:02:31Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s actually not true. Mining is 3% of GDP, Farming 2.6%, whereas Manufacturing is 15% and the Service sector is also strong (Tourism being equal to the Mining and Agriculture sectors as a GDP%, telecomms being even larger. Financial markets are also a large and growing sector.) let’s not forget such things as SAB-Miller. I was going to post almost this exact thing. Anyway, here’s a [cite](http://www.statssa.gov.za/keyindicators/GDP/Fact_Sheet1.pdf) for that. For the year 2010 it’s actually agriculture 2.3% and mining 5.3% whereas manufacturing is 15% and financial/business services 21.2% (see page 2 of the document). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africas-resources-the-rise-of-a-new-cold-war/579786.md?page=3)