The global race for critical minerals is reshaping economies, industries and geopolitical alliances, placing Africa at the centre of one of the most significant economic opportunities of the 21st century.
That is why Africa needs to avoid repeating mistakes of resource extraction without sustainable development, opaque arrangements, and missed opportunities, which it made in the past by focusing on value-adding activities.
Home to vast reserves of lithium, cobalt, graphite, manganese, rare earth elements, and other strategic minerals, the continent possesses the resources needed to power the world's clean energy transition, advanced manufacturing, and digital economy.
Today, 30% of the world's critical mineral deposits are estimated to be found in Africa. From the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has cobalt, copper in abundance, to South Africa (platinum, manganese, chrome), Zambia (copper, cobalt), Zimbabwe (lithium), and Guinea (bauxite, iron ore), Africa possesses some of the world's richest deposits of critical minerals that are invaluable to the global energy transition and industrial revolution.
Originally published by African Business.