By Robert Egbe
Nigeria and other African countries must seize the continent’s vast reserves of critical green minerals to fuel not just the world’s clean energy transition but also its own industrial growth and prosperity, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Claver Gatete, told delegates at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS-2).
Speaking at a high-level side event on “Towards an African Position on Critical Green Minerals Diplomacy,” Gatete warned that unless African countries unite behind a common negotiating stance, the continent risks repeating history — serving as a supplier of raw materials while value and jobs are created elsewhere.
“Quite simply, there can be no global green transition without these minerals. And where are these minerals found in abundance? Here in Africa,” Gatete said, noting that Africa holds more than 30 per cent of global reserves of lithium, cobalt, manganese, graphite, and other resources essential for solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and electric vehicles.
The ECA chief highlighted how African countries already dominate parts of the global supply chain: the Democratic Republic of Congo produces 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt, South Africa is a top manganese and platinum group metals supplier, while Mozambique, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Niger all hold significant reserves of graphite, lithium, and uranium.
Yet, he cautioned, these resources could again leave the continent with little benefit unless Africa redefines its approach.
To prevent a repeat of extractive models, Gatete laid out four strategic priorities:
- Local value addition: Africa must invest in refining and manufacturing capacity instead of exporting raw minerals. He pointed to an ongoing ECA-Afreximbank initiative to build a regional battery and electric vehicle value chain, starting in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
- Intra-African cooperation: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), he said, offers a platform for building cross-border mineral value chains that reduce dependence on external actors and unlock economies of scale.
- Equitable partnerships: Financing, technology, and skills transfers from global partners must respect Africa’s sovereignty and development priorities, rather than replicate past patterns of exploitation.
- Justice as principle: The global green transition cannot be “just for the world and unjust for Africa,” he stressed, arguing that if Africa’s minerals are central to decarbonization, fairness requires that Africans benefit through industrial growth, green infrastructure, and climate resilience.
The Addis Ababa side event, co-hosted by the Ethiopian government, the African Union, Afreximbank, and the African Climate Foundation, forms part of ACS-2’s broader effort to consolidate an African negotiating position ahead of COP30.
Delegates repeatedly underscored the need for Africa to speak with one voice. Without unity, Gatete said, “extractive models will persist, environmental degradation will deepen, and inequities in value distribution will widen.”
The proposed African Climate Innovation Compact, discussed at the wider summit, aims to mobilise $50 billion annually in blended finance to scale up homegrown climate solutions — including mineral beneficiation and green industrialisation.
For many African leaders, critical minerals are both a bargaining chip and a development imperative. As Gatete put it: “This dialogue is not just about minerals. It is about Africa’s future — about shaping a narrative where Africa is empowered, not exploited; where we are co-architects, not bystanders, in the global green transition.”
The Addis Ababa Declaration, expected to feed into continental strategy, seeks to anchor Africa’s mineral diplomacy in Agenda 2063 and the Africa Mining Vision. Observers say how effectively these frameworks are implemented will determine whether Africa’s mineral wealth fuels its transformation — or once again benefits others more than its people.
