How can African nations benefit from the region’s battery mineral resources? In recent years, Africa has rapidly grown from a small player in the global battery supply chain to a s
Africa has grown from a small player in the global battery supply chain to a strategically significant one, as Europe and North America look to diversify China-centric supply chains. At Benchmark's Giga Africa event in Marrakesh, Morocco, speakers discussed the region's lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, manganese, phosphate and graphite resources and the aim of converting them to cathode, anode and cells within Africa. Many African countries have introduced policies banning or controlling the export of raw minerals to incentivise domestic refining capacity, though processing is likely to be developed in the short term by foreign entities, especially Chinese companies, while Buenassa's Eddy Kioni argued that Congolese players should process their own product with foreign partners in a supporting role.
Why it matters: The question of who controls refining and transformation speaks directly to the critical minerals theme, since value from Africa's battery resources has historically been captured outside the region.