As G20 member, Africa can help solve world’s critical mineral challenge

Against the backdrop of the African Union (AU) becoming a permanent member of the Group of Twenty (G20), responsible mining in the region, encapsulated in the AU’s African Mining Vision (AMV), should play a central role in fueling a mutually beneficial sustainable development while facilitating the cross-border collaboration between African states that will pave the way for the continent’s integration into the global economic system.

Given their strategic importance for global green and digital transitions, Africa’s vast mineral resources are being widely tapped as the key to unlocking the economic and environmental potential of stronger ties between Africa and G20.

Indeed, the EU and the US are joining forces to support the development of a new railway line connecting the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to the Angolan coast that notably aims to accelerate the exporting of critical raw materials and the development of regional value chains. The project was announced on the sidelines of the Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership (GIIP) event at the G20 in India. According to the EU, this represents a “powerful evolution of the Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership approach to collaboration, which can be replicated in other strategic corridors around the world.”

AU’s membership of G20 offers a historic springboard for “amplifying advocacy in favor of the continent and its effective contribution to meeting global challenges,” AU Commission Chairperson Moussi Faki Mahamat has posited. A UN report published in August highlighted how Africa’s abundance of critical minerals needed for clean energy and next-generation digital technologies paired with growing domestic consumer markets create an opportunity for the continent to become a major player within global supply chains.

Seizing the benefits of G20 membership, African countries empowered with advanced manufacturing capacities could help Western countries diversify critical supply chains while fueling local development and bolstering the continent’s own resilience to geopolitical and economic shocks. The AU’s AMV should act as the guiding light for this economic rebirth, given its focus on promoting sustainable mining and tackling the continental ‘resource curse.’