Our politicians and industrialists are now eyeing the mineral wealth of Africa, specifically that of the West and Central Africa countries which have some of the world's largest unexploited deposits of iron, coal and other minerals. They are tying up with big companies like BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Chinalco, Tata and Vale, who are already exploring for iron ore in and around the Sahara desert.

The former Congress minister, Mr J.C. Diwakar Reddy, recently picked up shares in a multinational mining company based in London and his firm also shipped a giant drilling machine from Hyderabad to Africa. Similarly, Mr Y.S. Dushyanth Reddy, a close relative of YSR, is currently involved in coal mining contracts there. It's not only these ministers, but also around 50 politicians and contractors, like Midwest Granites, are involved in the mining industry in Africa. The Vijayawada MP, Mr Lagadapati Rajagopal's Lanco and GVK are already mining coal in Australia and are likely to move to Africa due to the continent's abundant resources. The Khammam Telugu Desam MP, Mr Nama Nageswara Rao, whose firms have been mining coal in Indonesia, is also likely to make a foray into Africa soon.

Reasoning as to why AP industrialists and politicians are investing in the mineral wealth of Africa, a contractor-turnedpolitician who did not want to be named said, "What can we do? The Jalayagnam projects have slowed down due to lack of government interest and due to controversies we are forced to move to other countries to continue our business. The African governments have thrown open the mining sector to international companies. The only problem is that everything is still in the preliminary stage and unless we can start mining we cannot say how much business we can do."
However, as per preliminary estimates, it is a win-win situation as the ore output in African countries is expected to be around 300 million tonnes per annum.

In the last few months some politicos and representatives of various big construction firms visited African nations and tried to tie up with international giants. "Unlike in AP, the African governments have decided to allow mining and have also agreed to lease land from one lakh to 10 lakh acres. We cannot take up conventional mining there unless we have huge investments. That was the reason we tied up with international firms," said a source. He also admitted to paying money towards goodwill for "securing" permits from the heads of African nations.