MWE Correspondent
African countries are stepping up efforts to gain greater control over the continent’s critical mineral resources as global demand for minerals such as cobalt, lithium, copper, manganese and graphite continues to rise.
Africa holds about 30% of the world’s critical mineral reserves, placing the continent at the centre of the global energy transition. However, much of its mineral wealth is still exported in raw or minimally processed form, limiting the economic benefits that remain within African economies.
Governments and industry leaders are increasingly calling for a shift from simply extracting minerals to processing, refining and manufacturing mineral-based products within Africa. The goal is to create more jobs, increase government revenues, strengthen local industries and retain a larger share of the value generated by the continent’s natural resources.
The push comes as demand for critical minerals grows rapidly due to the expansion of electric vehicles, renewable energy, power infrastructure, batteries and advanced technologies.
South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola has argued that Africa must use its mineral wealth to accelerate industrialisation, create employment and deepen regional economic integration instead of continuing to rely heavily on raw mineral exports.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has already taken steps in this direction. In August, the country banned exports of copper and cobalt concentrates in an effort to encourage domestic processing and capture more economic value from its resources.
Regional cooperation is also emerging as an important part of Africa’s strategy. Countries are exploring ways to develop interconnected mineral value chains in which minerals extracted in one country can be processed or transformed into higher-value products elsewhere on the continent.
Analysts say Africa’s challenge is not a lack of mineral resources but its limited capacity to process them. Infrastructure gaps, unreliable electricity, financing constraints, limited technical capacity and regulatory challenges remain major obstacles to building competitive mineral-processing industries.
The African Union’s minerals strategy promotes value addition at source, regional industrialisation and greater participation by African countries in global mineral value chains.
With international competition for critical minerals intensifying, African governments increasingly see their mineral wealth as strategic leverage. The continent’s ability to negotiate better investment terms, attract technology and develop local processing capacity could determine whether Africa remains primarily a supplier of raw materials or becomes a major industrial player in the global energy transition.
