Strategic Minerals for Africa's Industry
Insights and pathways for the present and future
Africa's mineral wealth can drive industrial growth, yet value addition remains limited and geoscience data gaps persist. This series profiles several strategic minerals, covering demand, recycling, Africa's mining and refining share, trade risks, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, as well as pathways for equitable resource-based industrialization.
Key Messages
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Africa's mineral endowment is strong, but value capture is weak: extraction dominates while refining, fabrication, and manufacturing lag. Equitable resource-based industrialization requires closing gaps in power, infrastructure, skills, technology, and finance.
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Regional integration and smarter policy and finance are decisive: African Continental Free Trade Area–driven hubs, shared infrastructure, use of blended finance and strategic corridors, and harmonized standards can lift countries up the value chain together.
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Strong ESG performance, artisanal and small-scale mining formalization, and traceability are becoming market entry tickets. Adoption of renewables in energy-intensive processing is key in increasing sustainability competitiveness and enabling African producers to access premium, low-carbon markets.
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The emerging, voluntary G20 Critical Minerals Framework advances diversified, responsible supply chains and beneficiation at source, creating space for African priorities in the final texts of the framework and in partnerships to come between African producers and major importing countries.
Africa's mineral wealth can power industrial growth, yet much potential remains untapped as extraction dominates and value addition is limited. These publications—jointly developed by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development and the African Development Bank—present insights on nickel, copper, cobalt, lithium, bauxite, phosphate, platinum group elements, iron ore, rare earth elements, manganese, graphite, and vanadium.
Each factsheet profiles properties, global recycling, demand outlooks, and Africa's share of mining, refining, and exploration. They also map supply chains and trade, assess market risks and leverage points, and flag social and environmental challenges. The analysis situates these minerals within equitable resource-based industrialization aligned with the Africa Mining Vision, noting constraints from underinvestment in geoscience and structural factors across energy, skills, technology, infrastructure, and finance.
Three trends are currently reshaping options for resource-rich countries: (a) security of supply for minerals essential for low-emissions energy systems, (b) clean energy cost parity, and (c) a shift toward more equitable resource partnerships.
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