Mining Indaba: One voice, one strategy for Africa’s critical minerals – ESI reporting

Mantashe emphasised the need for stronger partnerships around critical minerals, arguing that Africa must speak with one voice

Africa already holds the building blocks of the global energy transition, but capturing real value from those resources will require far more than extraction is a refrain being repeated at Investing in Mining Indaba this year.

Speaking at the Mining Indaba, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, underscored the continent’s strategic importance, noting that all minerals mined in Africa should be considered critical. “We have everything. We either grow it or we mine it.”

Mantashe emphasised the need for stronger partnerships around critical minerals, arguing that Africa must speak with one voice to secure better returns from its natural wealth. Yet while calls for collaboration are growing louder, key gaps remain in turning ambition into impact.

Across the sector, leaders have highlighted the need to move beyond raw material exports toward local manufacturing and industrialisation. What is missing, however, is a coherent long-term plan to anchor supply chains within Africa. This includes sourcing and producing components locally and incentivising international partners to manufacture for African markets rather than exporting finished products back onto the continent.

Cover photo:  SA GovNews/X