ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua/GNA) – African experts and policymakers have called for stronger domestic resource mobilization and industrial capacity, to turn the continent’s green mineral wealth into economic gains.
The call came during Africa’s Green Minerals Workshop, which concluded Wednesday at the United Nations Conference Center in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to harness green minerals, enhance regional value chains and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrialization in Africa.
Organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the three-day continental gathering brought together government and UN officials, industry experts and practitioners, as well as private sector leaders to examine how Africa’s mineral resources can support greater value addition, stronger regional industries, coordinated policies, and sustainable development.
Participants said Africa holds an estimated 29.5 trillion U.S. dollars in mineral wealth, constituting a significant share of the world’s known mineral reserves, including dominant global shares of cobalt, platinum group elements, manganese, and phosphate rock, alongside substantial endowments of copper, gold, lithium, graphite, bauxite, and rare earth elements.
Although this mineral wealth is central to the global energy transition and to Africa’s own industrialization, infrastructure development, food security and digital economy transformation, experts emphasized that the continent “captures only a fraction of the economic value embedded in this endowment,” as it continues to export raw materials while importing processed products.
Addressing the session, Cosmas Ochieng, director of UNECA’s climate change, food security and natural resources division, emphasized the urgency of the clean energy transition amid a complex climate context.
“Given its endowment of critical minerals, the global energy transition offers Africa a generational opportunity to build competitive green industries, deepen regional value chains, and generate sustainable jobs and livelihoods for its people,” said Ochieng. “But endowment is not destiny, and mineral wealth alone does not guarantee development.”
Emphasizing that how Africa harnesses its critical minerals endowment is “the fundamental development challenge of our time,” he said the gathering envisages turning mineral endowments into shared prosperity, and geographical proximity into industrial connectivity.
UN data shows the demand for critical energy transition minerals is expected to almost triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2040. The key challenges hindering Africa from converting its mineral wealth into productive industrial assets stem primarily from limited mineral intelligence, mainly the inability to effectively assess the availability and quality, and accessibility of geo-scientific and economic data needed for evidence-based policymaking.
UNECA said the workshop is part of efforts that combine policy research, practical tools, and engagement with governments and partners to help African countries use their mineral resources for value addition, regional production, jobs, and greater economic opportunity.
GNA