Critical Minerals Africa (CMA) 2024 to Explore Translating Mineral Policy into Tangible Projects

The global demand for critical minerals is expected to triple by 2040, creating a strategic opportunity for most African producers to increase output and tap into hitherto unexploited mineral deposits.

African states now have a window of opportunity to harness new and existing regulations and, consequently, be able to attract foreign investments in mining as international miners turn their attention to the continent.

The CMA 2020 Summit is coming up this June. This two-day event will bring together the critical mineral community in Africa to discuss how policy, regulation reform, and best practices can help essential producers of mineral across the continent attract investments and meet the mark of global demand.

This, at the same time, puts more emphasis on the opportunity for African producers to redouble efforts toward bringing up capacity and channeling capital toward those segments of the domestic mineral market that have remained undeveloped.

Steps have been undertaken to world out policies to that effect. More particularly, Tanzania will stop the exportation of unprocessed lithium from 31st May 2024. The strategic policy is intended to attract investments across the midstream sector to add value to Tanzania’s lithium resources.

Similar policies have been put in place in Zimbabwe, Mali, and Ghana and have already led to infrastructure development across the whole mining value chain.

In Zimbabwe, new investments into the lithium industry have amounted to over $1.2 billion between the years 2021 and 2023. The latest of these investments is a $300 million investment by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt into a 450,000-metric-ton lithium processing plant at Arcadia Mine.

In Ghana, Australian-based Atlantic Lithium announced it would invest $185 million in a lithium processing plant in the Ewoyaa Lithium project. Meanwhile, China’s Ganfeng Lithium increased its stake in phase one of the Goulamina Lithium project in Mali and is set to initiate production in the spodumene mine of the project.

Besides export restrictions, regulating investments in African minerals and improving investor certainty with clarified contractual terms for foreign companies have been harmonized.

Some notable examples include the Zambia Mineral Regulations Commission Act 2023, Angola’s Privatization Program, Mali’s Mining Code 2023, and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s New Mining Code 2018, among others. These policies have improved the enabling environment for investment and are poised to attract a fresh slate of regional and global mineral companies.

Having found out that adopting investor-friendly policies is an excellent factor in attracting capital to African mining projects, the CMA 2024 ministerial panel is going to unbundle this role policy further plays in turning ambition into action.

The panel of CMA will empower Africa’s critical mineral industry to become a global leader, not only by providing deep insights into attractive policies, national objectives, and strategic regulatory practices but also by connecting African projects with international investors.