Harnessing Africa’s critical minerals to power the global future

As global demand accelerates, these resources could become even more central to both the energy transition and Africa’s economic future

When the world talks about critical minerals, Africa sits at the centre of the conversation. The continent holds some of the largest reserves of materials for electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, defence technologies and modern electronics. Yet what makes these minerals “critical” varies from country to country across the continent.

Africa holds a significant share of the world’s critical minerals — raw materials essential for clean energy, advanced manufacturing and digital technologies. And, many global supply chains depend heavily on African production. 

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Africa is already a major supplier of cobalt, manganese, bauxite and platinum-group metals, while also holding substantial untapped resources such as graphite and lithium.

As global demand accelerates, these resources could become even more central to both the energy transition and Africa’s economic future. The IEA states that mineral production is already a vital source of income across the continent, representing around 8% of government revenues in resource-rich African countries.

Yet the strategic weight of these minerals does not automatically translate into economic transformation. The gap between extraction and industrialisation remains wide.

From cobalt to lithium: Africa’s critical minerals advantage

The most strategically significant example is the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It produces roughly 70% of the global cobalt mineral essential for lithium-ion batteries. That dominance gives the country enormous geopolitical importance in the global energy transition. Yet its economy remains heavily dependent on raw mineral exports, leaving it exposed to commodity price volatility and external influence.

Further south, South Africa presents a different model. It dominates platinum-group metals, used in hydrogen fuel cells and catalytic converters, and holds vast manganese reserves crucial for steel and battery technologies. Unlike many of its peers, South Africa has a more diversified mining sector and stronger industrial capacity. Its constraints are less about resource endowment and more about infrastructure bottlenecks and energy reliability.

Zimbabwe has rapidly emerged as a key lithium producer. Lithium is central to rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems. As demand surges, Zimbabwe’s deposits have attracted significant foreign investment, particularly from Chinese firms seeking to secure battery supply chains. In response, the government has restricted the export of raw lithium ore in an effort to promote domestic processing. 

Along the Atlantic coast, Namibia occupies a strategic position in uranium production, a mineral critical for nuclear energy. As several countries reconsider nuclear power as part of the clean energy transition, Namibia’s reserves are gaining renewed geopolitical importance.

The country is also positioning itself within the emerging green hydrogen economy, attempting to leverage both its mineral wealth and renewable energy potential to move beyond extraction toward energy production.

In West Africa, Guinea is indispensable to the global aluminium industry. It possesses some of the world’s largest bauxite reserves, the ore refined into aluminium for cars, aircraft and construction. However, most refining takes place abroad, meaning Guinea captures only a fraction of the mineral’s full value chain.

Across the continent, the central question is no longer whether Africa’s minerals are critical to the world. It is whether they can become critical to Africa’s own long-term development. 

The difference will depend not only on geology but also on policy choices, from local processing and infrastructure investment to governance reforms and regional coordination.

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