{"id":121168,"date":"2026-05-26T16:58:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T16:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=121168"},"modified":"2026-05-26T16:58:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T16:58:53","slug":"africa-holds-critical-minerals-worth-trillions-captures-little","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=121168","title":{"rendered":"Africa Holds Critical Minerals Worth Trillions, Captures Little"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 11 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https:\/\/www.newsghana.com.gh\/africa-holds-critical-minerals-worth-trillions-captures-little\/Africa holds roughly 30% of global critical mineral reserves and exports more than $400 billion in raw materials annually, yet captures less than 1% of global clean energy manufacturing value, a structural imbalance that the surging demand for electric vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is intensifying rather than resolving.
\nThe numbers define the tension at the centre of one of the most consequential economic debates on the continent. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates the combined market for key energy transition minerals including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements at around $230 billion globally in 2024. Africa supplies a significant share of those materials. It earns a fraction of what they are eventually worth.
\nThe continent\u2019s resource base is vast and strategically positioned for the global energy transition. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) alone produces more than 70% of the world\u2019s cobalt, a critical input for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and mobile devices, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). South Africa leads global production of platinum group metals and gold. Botswana is a major diamond exporter. Niger and Namibia supply uranium to nuclear energy programmes across Europe and Asia.
\nTotal mineral exports from Africa were estimated at approximately $422 billion in 2024, with South Africa, the DRC, Nigeria, Algeria and Angola accounting for the majority of shipments, according to International Trade Centre trade data. The pattern underlying those figures is familiar: African economies export raw or lightly processed commodities and import higher-value manufactured goods, a structure economists describe as a legacy of colonial-era integration.
\nWhat is changing is the urgency of external demand. The IEA projects that demand for key transition minerals could increase several-fold by 2040 under climate-driven energy scenarios. The clean energy technology market expanded from under $200 billion in 2015 to more than $700 billion in 2023, pulling critical mineral demand sharply higher. AI\u2019s expansion of energy-intensive data infrastructure is adding further upward pressure.
\nThat surge has intensified geopolitical competition for access. China, the United States, the European Union (EU) and Gulf states have all expanded investments and strategic partnerships across Africa\u2019s mining sector, seeking long-term access to materials they consider essential for industrial policy, national security and technological competitiveness. Analysts describe the shift as resource diplomacy replacing purely commercial extraction.
\nAfrican governments are responding. Policies under active discussion across the continent include higher mining royalties, domestic refining requirements, restrictions on raw mineral exports and incentives for local battery and industrial manufacturing. Zimbabwe has announced plans to ban raw lithium exports as part of a broader industrialisation push. The ambition is to move up the value chain rather than continue supplying raw inputs to manufacturing hubs elsewhere.
\nThe obstacles are real. Many mining regions face infrastructure bottlenecks including unreliable power supply and limited transport connectivity. Governance challenges, illegal mining, environmental degradation and political instability continue to weigh on investor confidence in several jurisdictions.
\nEconomists argue that realising Africa\u2019s full mineral potential requires more than increased extraction. Sustained investment in processing industries, power systems, logistics corridors and robust regulatory frameworks will determine whether the next phase of global technological growth shifts value creation toward the continent or replicates the old model at higher volumes.
\nMost forecasts suggest Africa\u2019s strategic importance in global supply chains will only grow. Whether that translates into broader economic transformation will depend on decisions made now, by African governments, international investors and the institutions shaping the rules of global trade.
\n NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https:\/\/www.newsghana.com.gh\/africa-holds-critical-minerals-worth-trillions-captures-little\/<\/p>\n

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NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https:\/\/www.newsghana.com.gh\/africa-holds-critical-minerals-worth-trillions-captures-little\/Africa holds roughly 30% of global critical mineral reserves and exports more than $400 billion in raw materials annually, yet captures less than 1% of global clean energy manufacturing value, a structural imbalance that the surging demand for electric vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is intensifying rather than resolving. The numbers define the tension [\u2026] NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https:\/\/www.newsghana.com.gh\/africa-holds-critical-minerals-worth-trillions-captures-little\/<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18373,18374,18375,18376,17961],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-africa-mining","category-critical-minerals","category-democratic-republic-of-congo","category-electric-vehicles","category-emerging-markets","post_format-post-format-link"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}