Zimbabwe and its Southern African neighbours have been urged to move beyond exporting critical minerals and work towards regional processing and manufacturing as demand for resources linked to the global energy transition grows, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Ryan Chigoche
The call comes as Southern Africa seeks to capture more value from its mineral resources, with countries in the region holding different deposits, industrial capabilities, infrastructure and skills that could be combined to develop regional value chains.
The issue is particularly relevant to Zimbabwe, where lithium and platinum-group metals have become important parts of the mining investment landscape, while the country seeks to move further into mineral beneficiation.
Addressing delegates at the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba in Bulawayo, Mutuso Dhliwayo, Executive Director of ZELO and its research arm, the Africa Institute of Environmental Law (AIEL), said the region had an opportunity to approach the current critical-minerals cycle differently by developing value chains around its resource base.
“Africa in general, and SADC in particular, stands at a strategic crossroads. Our continent boasts significant mineral resources that are increasingly central to the global energy transition and to emerging industrial technologies,” Dhliwayo said.
The issue, he said, was no longer simply the amount of mineral wealth held by African countries, but whether that resource base could support processing, manufacturing, technology and other higher-value activities within the continent.
Africa has historically exported large volumes of raw and semi-processed minerals, while much of the processing, manufacturing and technology development associated with those resources has taken place outside the continent.
The growth in demand for critical minerals is bringing renewed attention to that model, particularly as countries seek secure supplies of minerals needed for batteries, renewable energy systems and other energy-transition technologies.
For Southern Africa, the discussion centres on whether countries can use their different resource endowments and industrial capabilities to support stages of the same value chain across borders, rather than attempting to develop every stage independently.
“If any region can develop a value chain, it is indeed the SADC region,” Dhliwayo said.
For Zimbabwe, regional linkages could provide a broader setting for its lithium and platinum-group metals industries, connecting mineral production with processing, manufacturing, technology and markets in neighbouring countries.
The regional focus comes as initiatives targeting energy-transition mineral value chains gather pace. Zimbabwe is among six Southern African countries covered by a five-year programme launched this year by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and partners to support responsible value chains around minerals considered important to the energy transition.
The programme also covers the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia, placing Zimbabwe’s beneficiation efforts within a wider regional context.
But moving further along the value chain will require more than mineral-processing facilities. Electricity supply, transport infrastructure, financing, technical skills, technology and access to markets are among the factors that will influence the development of downstream industries.
Dhliwayo linked the critical-minerals opportunity to wider issues including industrial policy, water, infrastructure, finance, skills, trade corridors, regional integration and environmental governance.
The discussion formed part of the ZAMI theme, “Powering tomorrow: reimagining mining, energy, agric and community development in Zimbabwe”, which places critical minerals, value addition and inclusive development among the issues under consideration at the Indaba.
The value-addition question also extends to employment, technology development and participation by African businesses, alongside the environmental and social impact of expanding mineral industries.
“We must ask what happens after extraction. Once we extract those minerals, what happens? Where is the process taking place? Where are jobs being created? Where is technology being developed? Where are African enterprises participating in the value chain? How are communities genuinely benefiting?” he said.
Dhliwayo also highlighted the Africa Treaty of Minerals and Industrial Policy, an African-led initiative focused on research, policy dialogue, innovation and advocacy around critical-minerals governance, industrial policy and environmental accountability.
For Zimbabwe and its neighbours, the discussions place the critical-minerals opportunity beyond production volumes, with greater attention on how regional resources and capabilities can be connected to develop more processing, technology and manufacturing capacity within Southern Africa.
