Rohitesh Dhawan, president and CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals, put it plainly at Invest Africa's Africa Debate in London: "The question is not whether Africa should move up the value chain. The question is where along that value chain countries can create the greatest and most sustainable value." That single distinction is reshaping how some industry leaders think about the continent's critical minerals moment.
For years, beneficiation has been the rallying cry in African mining policy. As demand for copper, cobalt, lithium and graphite rises alongside the global push for electric vehicles, battery storage and renewable energy, governments have understandably wanted more than a raw-materials export story. Domestic refining and smelting feel like the obvious answer to decades of watching value leave the continent in unprocessed form.
But the economics are more complicated than that logic suggests. Dhawan pointed to copper as a case in point: refining and smelting margins are under significant pressure worldwide, with growing global capacity squeezing profitability. Processing infrastructure alone is not a guaranteed path to industrialisation or lasting job creation.
What speakers at the London debate argued instead is that Africa's real opportunity may be broader. Building out infrastructure, skills, financing ecosystems and large-scale mining projects could do more to anchor a globally competitive industry than a narrow focus on which stage of processing happens on the continent. "There may be other opportunities that create more jobs, stronger industries and better long-term returns," Dhawan noted.
The energy transition is putting Africa's mineral wealth in the spotlight in a way that may not come around again. The question for policymakers now is whether they chase the most visible link in the chain, or take the time to figure out where their countries can actually win.
Originally published by African Business.