Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng
Africa risks losing the economic advantage offered by its critical mineral resources unless governments move faster to develop local processing industries and strengthen cooperation across the continent, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, a mining and investment consultant, has warned.
Mr Koranteng said Africa was making progress in its efforts to derive greater value from its mineral resources, but the pace remained too slow to fully capitalise on growing global demand for minerals used in batteries, clean energy technologies and other industrial applications.
“We are not fighting a losing battle, but we are progressing very slowly,” he said, calling for a concerted effort involving governments and African development finance institutions to accelerate local value addition.
Mr Koranteng, Lead Advisor to the Africa Mining and Commodities Fund (AMCF), was speaking on Tuesday( October 27), during the AETC Podcast and Webinar Series, Bytes & Barrels, on the topic “Critical Minerals Value-Addition: Fuelling In-Continent Beneficiation — Gas and Clean Tech Integration for Local Battery Mineral Processing.”
He described critical minerals as “the currency of the future” and urged African governments to treat them as strategic assets that could support industrialisation rather than relying predominantly on the export of raw materials.
“I have always said that critical minerals are the currency of the future,” he said, arguing that African countries must be deliberate about how they develop and use their mineral resources.
He called for a coordinated continental approach under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the African Union (AU), including the development of regional processing hubs that draw on the different mineral endowments and industrial capabilities of African countries.
Mr Koranteng noted that battery manufacturing and other clean technology industries require several minerals, making cooperation essential because the resources needed for production are distributed across different countries.
“Lithium alone will not be enough, even if you want to produce the best batteries,” he said, citing manganese, cobalt and other minerals as important inputs for developing a broader battery value chain.
He argued that countries could pool their comparative advantages to establish regional industrial hubs, allowing them to process minerals and develop related industries instead of competing individually to attract investment.
For Mr Koranteng, the central obstacle is political will. He said governments, development finance institutions and continental organisations must work together to create the conditions needed for investment in processing and manufacturing.
He also cautioned African countries against assuming that interest from foreign governments and investors automatically translates into favourable outcomes for the continent.
“It is unfortunate when we see Western countries making moves to secure critical minerals on the continent and we embrace those moves wholeheartedly, thinking that it means that we are investor-ready,” he said.
“These resources give us leverage. We should be able to use that leverage to determine the terms of engagement and shape the outcomes.”
He said Africa’s mineral resources should provide the continent with greater bargaining power in negotiations with international partners, particularly as countries seek secure supplies of materials essential to clean energy technologies and other strategic industries.
Mr Koranteng also questioned estimates that Africa holds about 30% of global critical mineral resources, arguing that the figure could be higher because significant parts of the continent remain underexplored.
He said the limited extent of exploration meant the full scale of Africa’s mineral endowment was not yet known, reinforcing the need for countries to strengthen geological exploration while preparing to capture more value from their resources.
Despite the slow pace of progress, he said he remained hopeful that African countries could change course if political leaders recognised the long-term economic benefits of mineral processing and industrial development.
He urged governments to move beyond rhetoric and take deliberate steps to build regional value chains, strengthen cooperation and ensure that the continent secures greater economic benefits from its critical minerals.
