One African Country Sits on $24 Trillion. So Why Is It Poor?

Under the soil of one African country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, lies an estimated 24 trillion dollars' worth of untapped minerals. Africa holds about 30 percent of the world's mineral reserves, and about 73 percent of the people living in extreme poverty. So where does all that wealth actually go? This video follows the map, and then goes to look at the places themselves. We start with what is really in the ground, from Congo's cobalt to the gold, the oil and the farmland. Then we go back to Berlin in 1884, where the trade routes were drawn that still point overseas today. We look at why the real money is made after the digging, with cocoa, cobalt and Nigerian oil as examples, how minerals end up paying for war around the Rubaya mines, how about 88.6 billion dollars slips out of the continent every year, and why you cannot run a smelter without electricity. And we end with Botswana, and with the countries that are now rewriting the deal. Chapters 0:00 24 trillion dollars, and the world's poorest 0:29 What is really down there 1:48 Berlin, 1884: built to export 2:57 Where the real money is made 4:18 The resource curse: Congo and Rubaya 5:42 The leak: 88.6 billion dollars a year 7:01 No power, no factories 8:12 Botswana, and the new export bans Figures are from the UN Environment Programme, the US Geological Survey, the World Bank, UNCTAD, the International Energy Agency, the International Cocoa Organization, the Cobalt Institute, the African Development Bank, Afreximbank and UN experts on the DR Congo, as checked in October 2026. The 24 trillion dollar figure is a widely quoted estimate for the DR Congo with no published methodology. Some footage of mines, refineries, ports, factories, soldiers and money is generic illustration and was not filmed at the places named; there is no footage of the Rubaya mines or of the January 2026 landslide in this video. Footage and image licences: CC BY 2.5: Wikimedia Commons / The International Institute for Environment and Development (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) CC BY-SA 2.0: Wikimedia Commons / MONUSCO Photos (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) CC BY-SA 4.0: Wikimedia Commons / Mamadou sacko (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Wikimedia Commons / Njengabenngugi (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) Public Domain (NASA): NASA Earth Observatory / NOAA NGDC, Suomi NPP (https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ima...) Public Domain (Universal Newsreel, National Archives): Universal Newsreel / National Archives (https://archive.org/details/1960-07-2...) Public domain: Wikimedia Commons / Adalbert von Roessler (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Wikimedia Commons / Cretep (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Wikimedia Commons / François Maréchal (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Wikimedia Commons / Justus Perthes (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Wikimedia Commons / NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Sci (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Wikimedia Commons / Sir John Kirk (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Wikimedia Commons / Unknown authorUnknown author (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) Additional stock footage: Pexels (Pexels License).