Critical minerals and Africa’s evolving mining landscape
The growing urgency around critical minerals is accelerating demand and project development across Africa, yet unlocking its full potential requires transparent regulations, infrastructure investment and improved resource understanding. While discussions on industrialisation, transformative technologies and cross-country production hubs formed a key part of the indaba mining conference, coordination challenges persist. At the same time, net-zero goals and the just energy transition remain ambiguous, with many African nations prioritising energy accessibility over transition (see our Sustainability services for further discussion on the energy transition). Strengthening multi-stakeholder collaboration, fostering innovation and redefining critical mineral classifications are essential to future-proofing Africa’s mining sector and maximising long-term value capture.
