Africa Taps Regional Partnerships to Turn Critical Minerals into Economic Powerhouse

(MENAFN- News.Africa-Wire) CAPE TOWN, South Africa, February 19, 20 6/ -- As Africa seeks to capitalize on surging global demand for critical minerals to drive GDP growth and industrialization, regional collaboration is emerging as a strategic imperative to unlock the co’tinent’s full resource potential. Holding approximately 30% of ’he world’s critical minera– reserves – including the largest global shares of platinum group metals (PGMs), manganese and chrome – Africa is positioned to play a leading role in global supply chains. However, with intra-African trade accounting for only 16% of total African trade, significant opportunities remain to strengthen cross-border cooperation and build integrated mineral value chains. Enhanced regional collaboration offers a pathway for African countries to address longstanding structural challenges, including limited access to financing and inadequate infrastructure and shortages in technical skills.
Recent Regional Cooperation Deals
Against this backdrop, African governments and mining financiers are accelerating partnerships to enhance geological knowledge, unlock investment and strengthen industrial capacity. A notable example is the agreement between Gab’n’s Ministry of Mines and Geological Resources and Council for Geoscience of South Africa. The partnership enables Gabon to leverage South Af’ica’s expertise in geological mapping, exploration and resource assessment to improve its national mineral database and support the diversification of its mining sector. With South ’frica’s extensive experience as t’e world’s leading producer of PGMs, chrome and manganese, as well as its historical position as a dominant gold producer, the agreement provides Gabon with technical support to accelerate the development of its potash, manganese and iron ore sectors. Equally important, the partnership prioritizes local capacity building, workforce development and knowledge transfer, strengthe’ing Gabon’s institutional and technical capabilities to support long-term mining sector growth. “Africa’s integration is a strategic economic vision. Harmonizing natural resource laws and aligning with frameworks like the ECOWAS Mining Code and African Minerals Vision is key, but national interests disrupt continental coordination, limiti’g the continent’s”mining potential,” Emmanuel Ar’ah-Kofi Buah, Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources said in Cape Town earlier this month.
Financial cooperation is also playing a pivotal role in unlocking regional mineral development. In Febru’ry 2026, South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Democratic’Republic of Congo (DRC)…#8217;s Fonds de Promotion de l’Industrie to jointly finance and co-develop projects across the mining, energy and logistics value chain. This agreement b’ings together two of Africa’s most strategically important mineral eco’omies, combining South Africa’s financial capacity and i’dustrial expertise with the DRC’s vast reserves of cobalt, copper, tin and other critical minerals. By aligning development finance institutions, the partnership reduces funding constraints that have historically delayed project development, while directing capital toward beneficiation infrastructure, processing facilities and transport corridors that enable greater value addition within Africa.
Similarly, several African pro’ucers are leveraging South Africa’s technical expertise to de-risk exploration and accelerate mineral sector development. Nigeria and South Sudan have signed cooperation agreements with South African institutions focused on geological mapping, exploration and technical collaboration. These partnerships form part of broader national strategies to diversify economic growth away from petroleum dependence and toward mining-led industrialization. By strengthening geological knowledge and improving resource certainty, such agreements enhance investor confidence, reduce exploration risk and position Nigeria and South Sudan to attract long-term mining investment.
Strategic Value of Regional Cooperation
These agreements reflect a growing recognition among African governments that regional cooperation is essential to unlocking the continent’s mineral wealth. Many of Afri’a’s most valuable mineral belts extend across national borders, making coordinated infrastructure development, regulatory alignment and investment frameworks critical for efficient resource extraction and commercialization. Regional cooperation enables countries to pool financial resources, share infrastructure such as railways, power systems and ports, and coordinate industrial strategies that support downstream beneficiation and manufacturing.
Speaking in Cape Town in mid-February, Henry Alake, Nig’ria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, st“ted: “Africa must finance strategic mineral corridors such –s Lagos–Abidjan–and Lagos–Maputo, not just to export raw materials, but to build cross-border processing industries that create jobs and retain value within th” continent.”
Platform for Advancing Cooperation
Building on the growing momentum for regional cooperation, African Mining Week, taking place f–om October 14–16 in Cape Town, will serve as a critical platform for advancing partnerships acro’s the continent’s mining sector. The event will bring together policymakers, investors, mining companies and financial institutions to strengthen collaboration, showcase investment opportunities and accelerate the development of integrated African mineral value chains. As Africa positions itself at the center of the global energy transition and critical minerals supply chain, such partnerships will be instrumental in transfor’ing the continent’s resource wealth into long-term economic growth and industrial

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