South Africa is the most capital-rich country in Africa, and Angola is the only even remotely similar location within all of sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa is rich in gold and diamond deposits of its own, and holds an unrivaled industrial and population advantage over all other countries in the region. In addition to its natural advantages, South Africa has expanded its reach over much of Southern and Central Africa, using its superior capital position to fund road and rail projects that link the entire region to South African population centers and ports. Economic interests have driven this expansion, namely, the desire to acquire control over the region's mineral resources, to tap into a pan-regional labor pool, and to ensure that a free movement of people keeps South Africa the hub for much of Africa's economic activity. South African financial and engineering assistance has developed much of the region's mining and transportation infrastructure. While neighboring countries may hold preferential markets outside of Africa, there is no getting around that dealing with the rest of the world means in practical terms dealing with and through South Africa, most notably through the port of Durban. A belt of territory stretching from Zimbabwe and Botswana on the South African border up through Zambia and as far north as the mineral-rich Katanga region of the DRC is connected to a transport and supply network that relies on South Africa as a transit and "value-added" hub.
