MININGAFRICA’S MINERAL
MININGAFRICA’S MINERAL WEALTH COULD DRIVEECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONOrganised alongside the African Energy Week, participants at Critical Minerals Africa 2024 heard that globaltension could accelerate investment in Africa and that demand for electric vehicles could boost the copper,lithium and cobalt sectors. The continent’s mineral wealth holds the key to economic transformation.Critical Minerals Africa 2024 featured a wide range of speakers and panellists, including cabinet ministers, academics and leaders of mining companies and financial institutions.AAfrica holds significant reserves of minerals critical for the global energytransition. The continent boasts roughly 30% of the world’s mineral reserves,including immense deposits of cobalt, manganese, natural graphite, copper,nickel, lithium and iron ore.The Critical Minerals Africa (CMA) 2024 Summit in Cape Town broughttogether industry leaders, policymakers, service providers and investors toaddress the urgent demands of Africa’s critical mineral value chain. The Summitfeatured a robust agenda that sought to shine a spotlight on opportunities forAfrica to accelerate its mining sector while utilising its natural resources topromote value addition and drive socioeconomic development.CMA 2024 featured a Ministerial Forum that included the participationof mining ministries from Eswatini, Malawi and Argentina, as well asrepresentatives from Tanzania. High-level speakers during the forumshowcased a number of projects aimed at maximising mineral productionwhile discussing how to leverage mineral resources to promote economicgrowth and sustainability.The Republic of Malawi’s Minister of Mining, Monica Chang’anamuno,highlighted several ongoing projects in the country, such as the KasongoInitiative, which aims to increase the production of rare earth metals, graphiteand lithium resources.Meanwhile, Eswatini’s Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, PrinceLonkhokhela, announced ambitious targets to raise the contribution of thecountry’s mining sector to its GDP. With aims to increase the share from 1%to 50% in the short to medium term, the strategy is supported by new surveysrevealing commercial deposits of lithium, copper, cobalt and other base metals.To bolster investment in mid- and downstream infrastructure, the Summitalso featured the participation of the President of the Chamber of Mines ofZimbabwe, Thomas Gono, who stated, “Historically, we exported raw materials,22
MININGmissing out on the potential benefits. With Africa’s young workforce, wenow have an opportunity to drive revenue and create jobs through skillsdevelopment and local beneficiation.”With the participation of Tanzania’s Chamber of Mines, it was announcedthat the country aims to expand exploration in critical mineral-rich basinsfrom 16% to 50% as part of a strategic push into rare earths, lithium andtanzanite production. Meanwhile, Zambia’s Chamber of Mines discussedongoing strategies aimed at helping the country address logistics and energydeficit challenges in the mining sector.The Summit featured a panel discussion with high-level representatives frommining companies and development institutions including Pensana, the AfricaPolicy Research Institute and the US Development Finance Corporation. Thepanel also featured the participation of Clifford Chance, Frost & Sullivan andChatham House and explored how regional initiatives – such as the LobitoCorridor – have the potential to fast-track the expansion of Africa’s criticalmineralsmarket.An Investment Forum held during the Summit showcased innovativefinancing measures to advance the flow of capital across the African market.The session featured representatives from finance institutions, the World Bank,Absa, Moshe Capital, the African Finance Corporation and ASAFO & Co.Additionally, midstream and downstream opportunities were showcasedduring a panel session that featured the participation of organisations suchas Orion Minerals, AZ Arnaturen, Women in Green Hydrogen, IsondoPrecious Metals and the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerceand Industry. The panel also featured representatives from Konrad AdenauerStiftung, the SA-DRC Chamber of Commerce, the Curtin Institute for EnergyTransition, the Electric Mobility Association of Kenya and the CongoleseBattery Council.A Leaders Forum featured the participation of international miningcompanies Glencore DRC and KoBold Metals as well as representatives fromthe University of Cape Town and the Minerals Council South Africa. TheForum showcased how governments across Africa can promote innovation inthe continent’s mining space to attract new investment and increase criticalminerals production to drive socioeconomic and GDP growth.The US recently announced an initiative to expand the Lobito Corridor,spanning Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), toTanzania, while China signed an agreement with Tanzania and Zambia for theTAZARA railway project.“Africa’s geopolitical opportunities are vast, but supply chains are becomingincreasingly complex,” stated Backeberg.The electric vehicles market boom will also amplify investment in Africa’scopper, lithium and cobalt sectors, according to Backeberg, with Chinacurrently leading this demand surge, Europe advancing and the US projectedto slow down due to political shifts.Martin Lokanc, Senior Mining Specialist at the World Bank, discussedpopulation growth, increased economic activities and their implications onAfrica’s critical-minerals sector. He highlighted the fact that rapid urbanisation– expected to see 60% of the global population in cities by 2050 – is drivingdemand for critical minerals, with Africa and India at the forefront.“Decarbonisation is a significant disruptor, prompting a reengineering of theglobal energy system and requiring more minerals, particularly from Africa,”Lokanc stated. He added that copper demand is projected to double by 2050,offering Africa, particularly the DRC and Zambia, a prime opportunity toexpand their market share.Lokanc also called for more local beneficiation to ensure that mining profitsfuel local economies, noting that many of the world’s poorest regions overlapwith high mineral concentrations.Erik Holm Reiso, Senior Partner and Head of EMEA at Rystad Energy,emphasised Africa’s potential to address the global metals shortage, withlithium demand expected to surge by 12 times by 2050.Wade Cherwayko, Co-founder and Director of Tronic Metals Ltd, added,“We cannot overlook African oil and gas; instead, we must harness theseresources to support a stable power supply that will underpin critical mineralproduction and energy diversification.”Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.Research findingsThe CMA 2024 Summit brought a high degree of sharp analysis and marketresearch to bear on factors affecting the sector on the continent.Among the presentations on the state of play of the African market werethose delivered by well-known market research firms Project Blue and RystadEnergy, as well as by several senior officials from organisations such as theWorld Bank.Nils Backeberg, Founder and Director at Project Blue, stated that geopoliticalshifts and the rising demand for metals essential to energy transitiontechnologies are impacting the African market.“Changes in government policies across countries such as Botswana,Mozambique, the US and regions in Europe will shape mineral trade andinvestment relations,” he noted, “underscoring the effects of global power shiftson Africa’s mineral sector.”Backeberg pointed to US-China trade tensions and similar dynamicsinvolving Europe and Japan as potential accelerators of investments in Africa’ssupply chain, with Tanzania emerging as a focal point in the US-Chinacompetition over Southern African minerals.The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Copper is among the minerals most in demand.PHOTO: Ivanhoe Mines23
