Demand for critical energy transition minerals, including cobalt, copper, graphite, lithium, manganese, nickel, platinum group metals (PGMs) and rare earth elements, could more than triple by 2030 under net-zero scenarios and Africa holds about 30% of the global reserves of critical energy transition minerals.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is a testing ground for Africa’s strategic resolve to reshape its future through deliberate choices, while avoiding dependency and driving transformation, says UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) executive secretary Claver Gatete.
Major economies are already repositioning supply chains in the name of energy security, which presents a narrow window of opportunity for concerted action to move beyond Africa's resources being a source of wealth for other economies.
Minerals contribute about 10% of SADC’s GDP, 25% of exports and 20% of government revenues.
However, the sector accounts for only 7% of direct employment, reflecting the need to move into mineral-based industrialisation and value-addition, which hold greater job-creating multipliers, he says.
