The last decade has witnessed a global surge in demand for commodities, leading to increasing competition and rising commodity prices. While securing undistorted access to, and control of, raw materials plays an increasingly important role for industrialised and emerging economies, there is an intensifying debate in resource-rich developing countries regarding the insu?cient bene?ts from these resources and on the necessarily greater contribution of this sector to economic development. This article illustrates this debate by using the example of two current initiatives: the European Raw Materials Initiative (RMI) and the African Mining Vision (AMV). The article ?nds that, although the RMI claims to address development concerns, the main objectives of the initiative contradict the broader vision of the AMV and instead aim to secure undistorted access to raw materials in resource-rich developing countries.
