Cape Town, South Africa, 14 February 2025: – Africa’s critical minerals are a definite pathway to the continent’s industrial development, social upliftment and economic prosperity, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra African Trade and Export Development Bank, at African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), told delegates at the recently concluded African Mining Indaba 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Delivering a speech on the theme “Redefining Critical Minerals – Critical for Who?”, Mrs. Awani envisioned “a future where Africa’s mineral wealth empowers its people and drives sustainable development”.
She noted that while the continent abounded in mineral resources and accounted for about 30 per cent of all global mineral reserves, it had not benefitted from those resources due to inadequate infrastructure, unclear national policy directions, environmental and social challenges, poor investment decisions and lack of financing.
“The paradox lies in the fact that whilst our continent is a treasure trove of resources, the benefits of these resources often flow outside our borders, leaving local communities and economies deprived,” she said. “For a continent that is endowed with such vast quantities of natural resources, the state of development across its length and breadth remains a puzzle.”
Mrs. Awani noted that many African countries currently extract minerals and export raw materials without substantial value addition, leaving the continent lingering at the lower rungs of global value chains and constraining economic benefits, arguing that, to fully tap into the new commercial opportunity, Africa needed to significantly increase investments in value addition and processing capacity so that countries could export finished or semi-finished goods, thereby enhancing the continent’s position in global value chains.
“Increasing investments in processing facilities and manufacturing plants can create thousands of jobs, which not only addresses unemployment but also builds a skilled workforce capable of engaging in diverse sectors,” she continued. “By investing in value addition, we can reduce our reliance on raw commodity exports and create a more resilient economy, better protected from the impact of fluctuating global market prices.”
Mrs. Awani commended Botswana, where the diamond industry has transitioned from raw exports to local cutting and polishing; South Africa, which has witnessed the development of the platinum group metals for the advancement in fuel cell technology; Ghana, which has approved a policy to manage the production and extraction of lithium and prevent the export of lithium in its raw state; and Namibia, which has placed a ban on exporting lithium concentrate with the view to promoting local processing, for their lead in adding value to their raw minerals and ensuring that they climbed out of the bottom of the value chain.
Mrs. Awani added that Afreximbank had been a champion of many initiatives and transactions which presented opportunities to address some of the challenges faced by the continent’s mining industry, including the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) where it was a strategic partner to the AfCFTA Secretariat in establishing the US$10-billion AfCFTA Adjustment Fund to which it had committed US $1billion and a matching grant of US$10 million to seed its Base Fund.
The Fund consists of three sub-funds namely the Base Fund, the General Fund, and the Credit Fund. The Base Fund will utilise contributions from AfCFTA State Parties as well as grants and technical assistance to address tariff revenue losses that would result from the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement. The General Fund will finance the development of trade enabling infrastructure while the Credit Fund will be used to mobilise commercial funding to support both the public and private sectors enabling them to adjust and take advantage of the opportunities created by the AfCFTA. By providing targeted support, the Fund aims to ensure that no country is left behind and that the benefits of the AfCFTA accrue equitably and in a sustained manner across the continent.
The Bank had also approved a US$ 500-million concessionary finance window to supplement its critical development interventions to address the significant funding gap in Africa toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, she said.
Other initiatives include the DRC-Zambia Battery Precursor Manufacturing Special Economic Zones Initiative aimed at making the DRC and Zambia globally competitive investment destinations for the battery electric vehicle (BEV) value chain through the development and implementation of the Battery Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Special Economic Zones; the project preparation facility to UTM Offshore Limited to aid the development, design, and construction Nigeria’s first indigenously owned floating liquified natural gas facility with a nameplate production capacity of 1.2 million metric tons per annum in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, which will allow Nigeria to pivot from a crude oil export-based economy to a gas-based processing industrial economy; and commitment of over US$ 100 million to the development of African Quality Assurance Centres (AQACs) to improve Africa’s ability to comply with international standards and technical regulations required to promote exports and facilitate intra- and extra-African trade.
According to the Executive Vice President, there is an opportunity to expand the scope of the AQACs to include testing and certification of minerals processed on the continent and reduce the need to certify African minerals overseas. To enhance local participation, the Bank offers a local content mining services programme providing funding to the local mining sector service providers. Afreximbank recognises the critical role this programme plays in job creation, inclusive growth, boosting the domestic private sector, facilitating technology transfer and developing competitive local workforce.
The African Mining Indaba 2025, was held in Cape Town, South Africa from 3 to 6 February. It is the premier gathering where Africa policymakers, industry leaders and global partners work to shape the future of the African mining sector.
