Mohamed Okash is the Founding Director of the Institute of Climate and Environment at SIMAD University in Somalia. <\/p>\n
A recent report by the African Finance Corp. suggests that Africa holds an approximate\u00a0$29.5 trillion in mineral wealth<\/a>. It is little wonder then that the continent is once again being courted for what lies beneath its soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Africa, this moment feels both familiar \u2014 and fraught. Indeed, the stakes are not only about minerals; they are about whether a continent with the world\u2019s youngest population will be shaped by decisions made elsewhere, or finally assert control over how its future is built.<\/p>\n It is time for African policymakers, political leaders, and regional institutions to treat minerals not merely as export commodities, but as strategic bargaining tools.\u00a0<\/p>\n From cobalt and lithium to the rare earth minerals powering electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and modern defence technologies, global powers are racing to secure the resources they believe will define the next century.<\/p>\n In this context, Africa has a strategic advantage. The continent holds an estimated 30% of the\u00a0world\u2019s critical mineral reserves<\/a>, including over 55% of global cobalt, around 44% of global manganese, significant shares of platinum-group metals, and fast-growing lithium discoveries in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo,\u00a0 Zimbabwe, Ghana and others.\u00a0Despite this endowment, Africa only captures less than\u00a01% of global mineral<\/a>\u00a0value addition.<\/p>\n A regional approach to value addition<\/p>\n To turn this tide, African policymakers, political leaders, and regional institutions must be intentional about the terms under which these resources leave the continent.<\/p>\n One practical step would be adopting common beneficiation thresholds, requiring that certain minerals not be exported in raw form, but only after reaching a defined level of domestic processing, such as concentration, refining, or precursor production. Instead of shipping unprocessed lithium ore or cobalt concentrate abroad, for example, governments could require some level of upgrading at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n A handful of African nations have already taken such measures.<\/p>\n In 2023, Namibia\u00a0banned exports of unprocessed lithium and other critical minerals<\/a>\u00a0to encourage local beneficiation. That same year, Ghana announced a\u00a0lithium agreement\u00a0<\/a>that also included provisions for local value addition and state participation, signalling that raw mineral exports will not define its long-term strategy. And just last week, Zimbabwe\u00a0suspended exports<\/a>\u00a0of lithium concentrates and all raw minerals. The government framed the move as a way to compel domestic processing and downstream investment rather than continued raw export dependency.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition, the African Union has been pushing toward a more coordinated regional approach to minerals through its\u00a0African Mining Vision<\/a>. Fully implementing such an approach would not only strengthen the continent\u2019s bargaining power but prevent companies from simply shifting operations to the country offering the weakest standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mineral revenues can help fund climate plans<\/p>\n Of course, export restrictions alone are not a silver bullet. They work best when backed by clear regulation, reliable energy supply, infrastructure investment, and regional coordination.<\/p>\n Aligning mineral policy with energy, climate, and industrial strategies is equally important. That means linking mining licenses to renewable energy investment consistent with the\u00a0Paris Agreement<\/a>, directing mineral revenues into long-term industrial or green transformation funds rather than short-term budget fixes, and using frameworks such as the\u00a0African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)<\/a>\u00a0to build cross-border value chains. Strong transparency standards under the\u00a0Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)<\/a>\u00a0can further strengthen public trust and fiscal stability.<\/p>\n Critical minerals give Africa a real chance to move beyond aid-dependent development and invest in growth driven from within. Managed well, they can help finance locally led transformation, creating jobs, building industries, and strengthening economic resilience.\u00a0<\/p>\n A different model with young people at the table<\/p>\n