Mining Indaba 26: Who defines ‘critical minerals’- and does it work for Africa?
As “critical minerals” rise to the top of global policy agendas–driven largely by energy transition, security, and industrial priorities in the Global North–African countries are being drawn into a conversation they did not start. Yet for a continent that holds a significant share of the world’s mineral resources, the central question is not whether these minerals are critical to others, but whether externally defined notions of “criticality” align with Africa’s own development objectives.