Johannesburg: Africa – and South Africa – must harness its rich endowment of critical minerals to create an industrial powerhouse which can lead the green energy revolution. This according to Gauteng Growth and Development Agency executive, Sthembiso Dlamini, who addressed the African Critical Minerals Summit in Johannesburg on Monday. The continent boasts vast deposits of minerals such as platinum, manganese, and lithium which are critical for renewable energy technology.
According to South African Government News Agency, Dlamini noted that these minerals stand at the “centre of the global energy transition, technological advancement, and industrial development.” She emphasized the strategic importance of Africa’s mineral deposits, which include cobalt, lithium, rare earth elements, and platinum group metals. The continent holds nearly a third of the world’s critical mineral reserves, making it central to the global energy transition.
Dlamini highlighted the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area as a unifying framework to power regional value chains from beneficiation and processing to advanced manufacturing. She stressed the importance of not merely exporting raw resources but becoming global leaders in beneficiation, industrialization, and sustainable growth. With its rich endowment in critical minerals, Africa can build industries that supply batteries, electric vehicles, and renewable technologies.
Furthermore, Dlamini argued that advancing beneficiation in Africa is not just an economic imperative but a developmental necessity. By processing and adding value to minerals locally, jobs can be created, new industries stimulated, and stronger linkages across manufacturing, energy, and technology sectors built. She sees this as a path to unlocking greater returns for the continent’s people and ensuring long-term prosperity.
Dlamini also discussed the potential for industrialization anchored on the critical mineral sector to serve as a backbone for new supply chains in green technologies, batteries, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. By leveraging regional integration, infrastructure development, and public-private partnerships, Africa can shift from being at the margins of global value chains to being at the heart of them.
Sustainable growth is a key component of Dlamini’s vision, as she put forward that the approach to growth must be sustainable for communities and the environment. She emphasized the need to balance economic opportunity with environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Communities must benefit directly, ecosystems must be protected, and governance structures must guarantee transparency and accountability. Only then, Dlamini asserted, can Africa’s critical minerals become a catalyst for inclusive and resilient growth.