By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider

The Compendium of Africa’s Strategic Minerals was launched at the Mining Indaba, as it aims to reframe the sector through the lens of African development which is set to advance industrialisation, infrastructure as well long term regional demand. 

“Today, AFC is proud to launch the Compendium of Africa’s Strategic Minerals, an initiative to reframe the sector through an African lens and convert endowment into execution pathways for our collective prosperity” said Samalia Zubairu President and CEO of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).

According to the Compendium, mineral production, enabling infrastructure and demand rarely co-locate or align at scale, and calls for stronger regional planning anchored in Africa’s long term demand fundamentals. 

Infrastructure will be placed at the centre of mineral strategy, not only as a passive enabler but a bridge between linking raw materials, processing capacity, and demand. 

The report navigates mineral deposits and producing assets alongside railways, ports, power generation hubs and transmission networks in order to identify where regional value chains can realistically be developed. 

This Compendium places Africa’s mineral strategy in an ever changing geo-economic climate which has been created by various trade tensions, export controls, industrial policy, and efforts to reduce concentration risk. The strategy calls for selective integration into strategically exposed segments of global supply chains.