Africa’s strategic positioning in the global green revolution and critical minerals race

Africa stands at the crossroads of the transformation required by the global green revolution agenda, spurred by climate change imperatives and the rapid shift toward clean energy technologies. The demand for critical or “green”¹ minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements, is surging,² driven by the rise of electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and energy storage solutions across the world. Africa is a key player in the energy transition, holding approximately 30% of the world’s largest mineral reserves,³ including 70% of cobalt.⁴ The critical minerals race presents an immense opportunity for Africa to go beyond extraction. Africa could become a global hub for critical mineral processing and the production of green technologies through a vertically integrated value chain that includes mining, processing, manufacturing, and technology development. However, Africa must act proactively, decisively, and quickly to secure its place in the global minerals value chains.

Africa’s visions and strategies such as Agenda 2063,⁵ the Africa Mining Vision (AMV),⁶ the African Commodity Strategy, and the forthcoming African Green Minerals Strategy (AGMS) collectively emphasize the need for Africa to transform its mineral wealth into sustainable, value-added industries.⁷ The AGMS specifically highlights the importance of positioning Africa as a key player in the green transition, advocating for the responsible extraction and processing of green minerals while promoting industrialization and green technology development.

What will it take? By 2030, African policymakers must adopt innovative approaches to fully implement these strategies by developing coherent policies at all levels to ensure that the ecosystems around value addition and industrialization are developed, including the requisite infrastructure, skills, technology, regional cooperation, and capital. Since channeling domestic private savings into productive sectors through Africa’s capital markets is one of the best avenues for domestic resource mobilization, the African Minerals and Energy Classification and Management System⁸ and the Pan-African Reporting Code by the African Minerals Development Centre⁹ will be pivotal and transformative for facilitating access to African capital markets. Standardizing resource estimation and reporting across Africa will create frameworks that bolster investor confidence by enhancing transparency and governance in Africa’s critical minerals sector and unlock the continent’s capital markets, leading to value addition and economic diversification.¹⁰ Public-private partnerships and joint ventures are also essential for mobilizing the necessary capital.¹¹ African governments should tap into the growing climate finance market by aligning national goals with those of global climate. 

Lastly, regional cooperation is vital for Africa to benefit from the critical minerals race. The African Continental Free Trade Area should be leveraged to foster intra-African collaboration to build integrated value chains, share best practices, and pool resources for large-scale projects.¹² The development of regional hubs for mineral processing and manufacturing will boost Africa’s global competitiveness.