At the recently concluded Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town, African leaders stood united behind a bold, clear message: Africa will no longer be the world’s raw-material supplier—it’s time to refine, process, and profit right here at home.
On a lively panel titled Global Demand for Critical Minerals: Africa’s Big Opportunity, ministers from Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria struck a defiant but hopeful tone. They shared a vision of a continent finally taking control of its vast mineral wealth—starting with lithium, a key component in batteries and the global energy transition.
Uganda’s Call: “The Age of Value Addition Is Now”
Uganda’s Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, was unwavering: “If you have lithium in your country, you must focus on value addition,” she said. Uganda isn’t just talking—they’re building charging stations, manufacturing electric buses, and even offering incentives like rebates on power infrastructure. “We are training Ugandans to negotiate better deals and demand more,” she said.
Sierra Leone: Rich Minerals, Poor Returns
Kandeh Yumkella, chair of Sierra Leone’s Presidential Initiative on Climate and Energy, laid out the painful math: the country exported $1.2 billion worth of minerals last year—yet received less than $40 million in return. “Royalties are not enough,” he said, calling for equity stakes, wealth funds, and local refining to ensure Sierra Leoneans actually benefit from their own resources. He also highlighted Sierra Leone’s regional efforts with neighbours like Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire to create shared refining hubs and clean energy infrastructure.
Nigeria Shifts Gears: From Extraction to Innovation
Nigeria is officially done with the old “dig-and-dump” model. “Nigeria has stopped the ‘beach-to-port’ model. We now mandate value addition in-country,” announced Olusegun Ige, Director-General of Nigeria’s Geological Survey Agency. Nigeria is now using technology—from nationwide geological surveys to a smart licensing portal—and backing local industry with tax breaks and battery production support. They’ve also deployed mining marshals to combat illegal extraction.
A New African Minerals Vision
All speakers agreed: bans on raw exports only work if African countries have the skills and infrastructure to process locally. But that’s exactly what they plan to build—together. There’s growing urgency too: as the EU and other global powers tighten environmental and trade rules, African nations must also meet “green mining” standards to stay competitive.
Africa’s message is no longer one of begging or waiting—it’s one of bargaining from strength. As Uganda’s Nankabirwa put it, “We have what the world needs. This time, we will not give it away.”
This new minerals agenda signals not just an economic shift, but a political awakening: Africa is done exporting wealth without returns. The age of raw deals is ending—and the age of African value is just beginning.
