BUSINESS •
INVESTMENT IN AFRICAN MINERALS – TIMING AND COLLABORATION CRITICAL FOR GLOBAL DECARBONISATION
By Willis Thomas , head of CRU + and Simona Nenickova , research analyst
Africa holds the key to resolving some of the imminent global upstream materials deficits resulting from key decarbonisation trends . However , without greater investment in raw material markets , bottlenecks may remain unresolved and decarbonisation trends will inevitably slow or in extreme cases even halt . Collaboration will be key .
Africa , a continent which has long seen mineral exploration and production , holds the key to resolving some of the imminent global upstream materials deficits resulting from key decarbonisation trends , with some of the best untapped mineral deposits the world can hope to develop . However , without greater investment in raw material markets , bottlenecks may remain unresolved for African mining . If these bottlenecks persist or worsen , decarbonisation trends will inevitably slow or in extreme cases even halt . Concerted effort between the holders of key resources , governments , regulators , and the downstream beneficiaries across the world is needed to prevent this .
Africa ’ s potential for critical decarbonisation metals production Today , Africa plays an important part in the production of metals that facilitate global decarbonisation , including significant production positions in cobalt and to a lesser degree , copper and vanadium . However , there is a lot of mineral potential in Africa which remains untapped . For instance , lithium reserves reported in the most recent USGS Mineral Commodity Survey are just 1.2 % of the global total , and 5 % of global resources . If all of these resources were in production , they would be the equivalent of approximately 50 % of global lithium supply in 2027 . However , there are substantial deposits of spodumene in Africa with a number of developing mining projects in the CRU project pipeline database , with many early stage , and some which have completed feasibility studies on the road to construction . While the future African share of production may remain small , there are projects that are large , e . g ., the Manono-Kitolo mine project has greater reserves than the largest existing spodumene mine .
It is not just lithium that can be exploited from untapped reserves , but also more cobalt , copper , nickel , vanadium , phosphate rock , iron ore and bauxite for aluminium – the collective of which needs to rise by 186 % from 2020 to 2040 . However , it is the need for battery metals like lithium , cobalt , vanadium , phosphate rock and nickel , which will increase massively ( rising by over 1 200 %) in the period to 2040 , that truly drive this increase .
+ 186 %
All images supplied by CRU Group
Decarbonisation will result in an ambitious ramp-up in raw material procurement . DATA : CRU . Note : Percentage of demand contributed by renewable energy and / or e-mobility . Li , Co , V , P demand is based exclusively on battery applications .
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