ICMM's research set out to identify the factors that have allowed some countries to benefit from their substantial resource endowments through economic growth and poverty reduction and avoid the so-called “resource curse”. The findings showed that the resource curse is not preordained in mineral rich economies.

Almost half (Chile, Botswana, Malaysia, Tunisia, Ghana, Mexico, Colombia, Jamaica, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia and Senegal) of 33 mining countries outperformed their regional and income comparator countries, whether endowed or not with minerals.

In the case of Ghana, between 1986-2001 more than $5bn was invested in new mining projects. While Ghana remains a poor country, income poverty on a national level has fallen 52 per cent to 40 per cent since 1991. In four mining districts, poverty levels are lower than the remaining 112 districts in Ghana outside of Accra, the capital.

John Groom,
Chief Operating Officer, ICMM,