Onome Amuge
A new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned that Southern Africa could squander a once-in-a-generation opportunity to anchor the global energy transition unless urgent steps are taken to unlock investment in the region’s critical minerals.
Launched on Thursday in Johannesburg, the study highlights deep financing gaps facing African producers of metals such as copper, cobalt, lithium and platinum-group elements, all considered vital to the manufacture of clean energy and low-carbon technologies. Despite holding nearly 30 per cent of known global reserves, sub-Saharan Africa attracts less than a tenth of global exploration spending, underscoring what the report calls a gap between potential and capital flows.
The analysis, developed in partnership with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and McKinsey & Company under the Forum’s Securing Minerals for the Energy Transition (SMET) initiative, covers 10 mineral-rich economies: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“Southern Africa has the mineral reserves the global energy transition urgently needs, but finance flows are not keeping pace,” said Jörgen Sandström, head of Transforming Industrial Ecosystems at the World Economic Forum. “Our new research not only reveals the scale of the gap but also practical, proven ways to close it. Sustainably unlocking this potential will be critical to both regional prosperity and global energy security,” he added.
With demand for clean energy inputs soaring, from batteries and solar panels to hydrogen and electric vehicles, the race to secure supply has intensified among advanced economies. Analysts warn that without accelerated investment, Africa risks remaining an exporter of raw ores rather than capturing value through downstream processing and industrialisation.
Boitumelo Mosako, chief executive Officer of DBSA, cautioned that the continent must not repeat the extractive patterns of the past. “As we confront the major transitions of our time — from climate change to cyclical economic headwinds — Africa must be an active participant in shaping its own development path. If extraction continues in the same manner as historical practice the continent will once again miss the opportunity to convert its mineral wealth into structural socio-economic transformation for all,” she said.
Drawing on consultations with industry, government and development finance experts, the report identifies eight core obstacles deterring investment including policy uncertainty, heightened risk perception, limited energy access, poor transportation infrastructure, weak innovation, slow industrialisation, acute skills shortages and volatile global demand cycles.
These barriers, it notes, are compounded by financing models that remain ill-suited to the scale and complexity of modern mineral projects.
Despite these hurdles, the Forum highlights replicable solutions already emerging in the region.
One is the Lobito Corridor, a multilateral effort to ease export bottlenecks for the DRC and Zambia by connecting mineral-rich regions to Angola’s Atlantic coast. The project, backed by the US, EU, DBSA and regional governments, includes modernisation of existing rail networks and an 800 kilometre extension. If completed, it is expected to reduce reliance on congested southern routes and significantly cut the cost and time of transporting copper and cobalt to global markets.
In Namibia, an ambitious green iron initiative launched in April this year is setting a precedent for renewable-powered industrialisation. The facility (Africa’s first of its kind) uses solar, battery storage and the region’s largest electrolyser to produce green hydrogen, which is then used in emissions-free ironmaking. Supported by the EU–Namibia Green Hydrogen Partnership, the project is targeting output growth from 15,000 tonnes in its pilot phase to 2mn tonnes annually by 2030.
Meanwhile, Zambia’s mining policy reform is reshaping the investment landscape. The country, already Africa’s second-largest copper producer, is overhauling legislation to attract investors and promote greater local participation. Output, currently 700,000 tonnes a year, is projected to reach one million tonnes by 2026, with an official national target of 3mn tonnes by 2031.
The report stresses that accelerating investment must go hand-in-hand with local development. Without deliberate policies, resource-rich economies risk a repeat of the so-called “resource curse,” in which wealth fails to translate into broad-based prosperity.
Proposals include expanding vocational training to close skills gaps, ensuring transparent benefit-sharing agreements with communities, and prioritising infrastructure that serves both industry and citizens. The report also calls for financing innovations from blended capital structures to green bonds that can de-risk projects while ensuring environmental and social standards are met.
