As the world rushes to Africa for critical minerals like lithium, how should the continent cope with demand?

Global demand for critical minerals, especially lithium, is growing rapidly to achieve clean energy and decarbonization goals.

Africa has significant resources of essential minerals. As a result, foreign mining companies are rushing to invest in exploration and acquire mining licenses.

Demand for lithium, for example, tripled from 2017 to 2022, according to the International Energy Agency’s 2023 Critical Minerals Market Outlook. Likewise, the market for critical minerals has doubled in five years, reaching US$320 billion in 2022. Demand for these metals is projected to increase sharply, more than doubling by 2030 and quadrupling by 2050. Annual revenue is projected to reach US$400 billion.

In our recent study, we analyzed African countries that produce minerals that the rest of the world considers “critical.” We focused on lithium projects in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ghana. We found that these countries do not yet have robust strategies for the critical minerals sector. Instead, they are simply caught up in a global race for these minerals.

We recommend that the African Union expedite the development of an African Critical Mineral Resources Strategy, which will guide member countries in negotiating mining contracts and agreements. The strategy must be based on best practices from the mining industry around the world. We also encourage countries to review their mining policies and regulations to reflect the opportunities and challenges presented by growing global demand for critical minerals.

Otherwise, African countries rich in critical minerals will not benefit from the current boom in demand.

What are critical minerals?

There is no universal consensus on which minerals are critical. Different regions and institutions have different lists of essential minerals, and the content of these lists is constantly changing. For example, Australia has classified 47 minerals as critical. The European Union has identified a list of 34 critical raw materials that are important to the EU economy and face the risk of destruction. The US list of critical minerals contains 50 elements, 45 of which are also considered strategic minerals.

Each country or region has reasons why these minerals are classified as critical. For most Western countries, minerals are critical to low-carbon economies or national security, have no substitutes, and are vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.

Lithium projects in Africa

At the time of our research, there were 18 lithium projects in Africa at various stages, from early exploration to production. We focused on those in Namibia, Zimbabwe, DRC and Ghana.

Our research has shown that conversations about Africa’s critical minerals have been largely shaped by geostrategic and economic opportunities arising from demand from Western countries and China. Less attention has been paid to the supply chains that African countries must secure for current and future industrial applications.

We realized that these countries contributed little to global carbon emissions and their economies were not stimulated by industrialization. For example, the current inadequate infrastructure and policies to address the impacts of lithium mining highlight the lack of a clear agenda. Lithium mining impacts communities, biodiversity, water sources and energy consumption.

We also found that, with more than 30% of the world’s critical mineral reserves, African countries have the potential to become major global suppliers. They could also trade among themselves to avoid potential supply chain disruption or even monopoly from countries outside Africa.

Our research also highlights that growing lithium mining in Zimbabwe, the DRC and Namibia is reinforcing and creating new forms of corruption and illegality in the resources sector. Ghana is still in the early stages of establishing its lithium sector.

What is the way forward?

Africa needs better resource management: regulation, accountability and transparency. Mining policies and regulations must reflect the opportunities and challenges of meeting global demand for critical minerals. Mining companies operating in African countries must adhere to good mining practices and national regulations to minimize the environmental and social impacts of their operations.

The claim that extraction of critical minerals is urgent should not be an excuse for African governments and foreign mining companies to circumvent mining and environmental regulations. Rather, the urgency needs to give African governments more power to negotiate mining deals that benefit people and the environment.

For these countries to take advantage of emerging economic opportunities, local companies must have incentives to mine and process lithium before exporting it. Refining lithium in the country of origin will increase local revenues, create jobs and stimulate growth in other economic sectors.

In Africa, coordinated efforts are needed to build local capacity along the entire minerals chain, from exploration to market. There is also an opportunity to create industries to support the global decarbonization agenda. An example is the production of batteries for electronic vehicles. In this way, Africa will become not only a source of raw materials, but also a competitive source of low-carbon products.

James Boafo is Lecturer in Sustainability at Murdoch University. Erik Stemn is a lecturer in safety and engineering at the University of Mining and Technology. Jacob Obodai is a research fellow at Edge Hill University. Philip Nti Nkrumah is a researcher at the Sustainable Minerals Institute at the University of Queensland. This article was originally published on The Conversation on May 22 this year.