The Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) has urged the international community to stop plundering mineral and natural resources in Africa in a seminar organized by the Symposium of the Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), in collaboration with the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Meeting in Accra, Ghana, from 8-10 March to discuss the theme “Conflicts in Africa in the Context of the Exploitation of Natural and Mining Resources,” they called for an end to the ruthless depletion of natural resources by multinational corporations and foreign powers.
Participants in the seminar said resource exploitation is causing immense suffering to Africans, including conflicts and forced displacements of populations.
The seminar was organized in collaboration with the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and several Catholic organizations, including the U.S. Catholic Relief Service, and the German-based Misereor Foundation.
He underscored the paradoxical scenario wherein significant foreign investments in oil, gas, mining, and natural resources fail to adequately benefit the local populations.