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Science in Support of Natural Resource Sustainability, Economic Development and Good Governance.

The USGS has a long history of cooperative science with partners in Africa, most notably geologic mapping and mineral resources assessment programs in Libya (1954-1962), Liberia (1970s and 1980s), Morocco (1998-2005), Madagascar (2003-2006), and Mauritania (2006-2008, 2011-20013). The USGS also had a long-term science diplomacy partnership with UNESCO (1993-2019), the Reduction of Earthquake Loss in the Extended Mediterranean Region (RELEMR) program which brought Arab and Israeli seismologists and earthquake engineers together to better understand and mitigate earthquake hazards in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Currently, the USGS has cooperative agreements in-force with institutions in Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia, and have active projects in Angola, Kenya, Ethiopia and Niger.

Following are short descriptions and links to recent and on-going USGS cooperative science projects and other activities in and related to Africa, associated with Water Resources, Energy and Mineral Resources, Natural Hazards, and Earth Observation / Land Change Analysis.

 

Water Resources

(Supporting Water, Food Security, Climate Resilience)

 

Kenya and Ethiopia Groundwater Assessments

This project, begun in 2016, uses satellite remote sensing and subsurface data to identify areas of increased potential for groundwater development in arid lands.

Energy and Mineral Resources 

(Supporting Transparency, Good Governance, and Economic Development)

 

Angola Mineral Resource Assessment

The USGS established an MOU with the Angola Geological Institute (IGEO) in November 2023 and initiated a project to evaluate Angola’s critical mineral resources in October 2024. This project will compile, analyze, and interpret newly acquire geologic, geochemical and geophysical data and spectroscopic data to produce prospectivity maps for selected critical mineral deposit types.

Southern Africa Critical Mineral Resources

From 2021-2023 the USGS conducted two separate projects evaluating 1) the REE potential of eastern Botswana and 2) the artisanal and small-scale mining of cobalt in the Copperbelt region of the DRC and Zambia.

 

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Dr. Cliff Taylor (retired USGS) in field with colleagues of the Botswana Geoscience
Dr. Cliff Taylor (retired USGS) in field with colleagues of the Botswana Geoscience Institute, eastern Botswana.

 

Documenting Resource, Production and Impact of Conflict Minerals and ASM Activity

The USGS has had a long-standing engagement with US government interagency partners to document the nature and scope of conflict mineral production in Africa and the role that artisanal and small-scale mining plays in these activities. While initially focused on conflict diamonds in support of the Kimberly Process, this work now is being applied to other conflict and critical mineral commodities such as gold, tin, tantalum, tungsten, and cobalt.

 

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Artisanal miners digging a mining pit using simple tools such as shovels, buckets and water pumps.
Artisanal miners digging a mining pit using simple tools such as shovels, buckets and water pumps. This was taken in 2013 in Fourona in Côte d’Ivoire, Africa.

 

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excavated hole in forest with hydraulic piping equipment and muddy water
Permitted small-scale gold mining site along the Cuyuni River in northwestern Guyana, June 2022.

 

Global Oil and Gas Assessments

The USGS assesses potential for undiscovered conventional and unconventional oil and gas resources in priority geologic provinces throughout the World. In Africa, the most recent assessments include those for,

Postsalt Reservoirs of the West-Central Coastal Province of Africa, 2022

Presalt Reservoirs of the West-Central Coastal Province of Africa, 2022

Offshore East Africa and the Seychelles, 2022

Offshore Salt Basin Area of Morocco, 2021

Senegal Basin Province of Northwest Africa, 2021

Sirte and Pelagian Basin Provinces of Libya, Tunisia, Malta, and Italy, 2019

Shale-Oil Resources of the Sirte Basin Province, Libya, 2019

Grand Erg/Ahnet Province, Algeria, 2018

Reggane Basin Province, Algeria, 2018

Tindouf Basin Province, North Africa, 2018

 

Mineral Commodity Information and Supply Chain Studies

The USGS National Minerals Information Center (NMIC) produces annual Mineral Industry Surveys for African countries that are designed to provide timely statistical data on mineral commodities in each country. These can be accessed from the Minerals Yearbook Volume III: Area Reports-International-Africa and the Middle East. Each report includes sections on government policies and programs, environmental issues, trade and production data, industry structure and ownership, commodity sector developments, infrastructure, and a summary outlook.

The USGS NMIC also conducts special studies on materials flow and mineral supply chain analysis. These have included Africa-focused projects that have documented Africa’s energy and mineral industries and related infrastructureenergy-critical mineral supply potential, as well as critical mineral production and the roles played by external actors and the artisanal mining sector.

 

Natural Hazards

(Supporting Disaster Risk Reduction)

 

Volcanic Hazards

The USGS Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) has helped build capacity at volcano observatories and responded to volcanic events in Africa. These have included programs at the Karthala Volcano Observatory in the Comoros, at the Goma Volcano Observatory in the eastern DRC, and a monitoring program in Equatorial Guinea for Pico Basile volcano.

 

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Seismic monitoring station established by the USGS for the Karthala Volcano Observatory in Comoros
Seismic monitoring station established by the USGS for the Karthala Volcano Observatory in Comoros.
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Downloading data from a seismic monitoring station established by the USGS in Comoros
Technician from the Karthala Volcano Observatory downloading data from a seismic monitoring station, established by the USGS in Comoros.

 

Earthquake Hazard

The USGS Earthquake Hazards assistance Team (EDAT) responded to the September 2023 Morocco Earthquake by immediately sharing aftershock advisories and forecasts with Moroccan partners. EDAT also supported efforts to document the source characteristics of this significant damaging earthquake, to better understand how an enigmatic region of active surface faulting, and low seismicity produced significant damage and loss of life.

 

Global Seismographic Network (GSN)

Formed in partnership among the USGS, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and EarthScope, the GSN provides near-uniform, worldwide monitoring of the Earth, with approximately 150 modern seismic stations distributed globally. GSN stations are operated by the USGS Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory, EarthScope, and other affiliate organizations. 

Data from the GSN are archived at the IRIS Data Management Center

Within Africa, GSN stations are located in Botswana, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.

 

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Dr. Ayele Atalay, Addis Ababa University, at entrance of USGS global seismic monitoring station, Mt. Furi, Ethiopia
Dr. Ayele Atalay, Addis Ababa University, at entrance of USGS global seismic monitoring station, Mt. Furi, Ethiopia.
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Seismic monitoring equipment inside tunnel of USGS global seismic monitoring station, Mt. Furi, Ethiopia
Seismic monitoring equipment inside tunnel of USGS global seismic monitoring station, Mt. Furi, Ethiopia.

 

Earth Observation / Land Change Analysis 

(Supporting Water, Food Security, Climate Resilience)

 

Famine Early Warning System – FEWS NET 

USGS has had a long-term partnership with other US government agencies (NOAA, USDA, NASA) and NGOs to provide advance projections on drought and flood-related food shortages. The USGS provides expertise and training in satellite data acquisition, processing and interpretation with international partners in the Sahel and sub-Saharan regions of Africa. 

USGS FEWS NET Data Portal

The USGS FEWS NET Data Portal provides access to geo-spatial data, satellite image products, and derived data products in support of FEWS NET drought monitoring efforts throughout the world. This portal is provided by the USGS FEWS NET Project, part of the Early Warning Focus Area at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

Land Cover Dynamics in West Africa, the Sahel and Malawi

The USGS uses its 50+ years of Landsat satellite and other earth observation imagery to document changes on the landscape through time. In West Africa, the Sahel and Malawi, the USGS has worked with numerous international partner agencies to build local capacity to use and interpret this data. This work supports the monitoring of regional land use patterns and change, deforestation, desertification, and threats to biodiversity.

 

EROS in Action - Landscapes of West Africa

Gray Tappan and Francis Dwomoh discuss Landsat's contribution to the studies they have conducted regarding landscape changes in West Africa.

Video Transcript
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