MINING
Africa’ s industrial strategy takes shape The dialogue showcased efforts to position Africa as a partner in manufacturing and green industrialisation rather than a raw-materials supplier. A key initiative is South Africa’ s Junior Mining Exploration Fund, designed to de-risk earlystage exploration and unlock new discoveries across the continent.
Industry perspective: collaboration is key Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo American, highlighted the complexity of global supply chains.“ No country holds all the minerals it needs, nor all the processing or manufacturing capacity,” he stated, emphasising that bilateral deals alone would not capture the full value of Africa’ s mineral resources.“ Reconfiguring deeply entrenched value chains will require coordinated policy, multilayered partnerships and a Pan- African industrial approach.”
This is a defining moment for South Africa to shape the agenda, especially as critical minerals take centre stage globally.”
Capturing value locally: UNDP highlights the opportunity For her part, Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, focused on the importance of local value capture.“ Africa holds 30 % of global mineral deposits – likely far more, given unexplored terrain. Yet the real question is: for whom are these minerals considered critical?”
Eziakonwa warned that without governance reforms, transparent pricing, and regional industrial collaboration, Africa risks repeating past mistakes. She used cobalt as an example:“ For every $ 100 of value in the final product, Zambia captures less than $ 3 when exporting raw cobalt. With local refining, that value increases tenfold.”
She emphasised that the industrialisation of battery manufacturing and other high-value sectors cannot be achieved by single countries alone.“ Collaboration is not optional; it is the only path to meaningful industrialisation,” she said.
The platform for action
Mining Indaba 2026 will provide the stage for translating dialogue into action. Ministerial discussions, investor panels, and boardroom meetings will focus on beneficiation, exploration, regional value chains, governance, and supply-chain transparency.
“ This is a defining moment for South Africa to shape the agenda, especially as critical minerals take centre stage globally,” said Collen Dlamini, Head of Public Affairs South Africa, at the DMPR dialogue.“ Our task is to ensure that today’ s conversations become tomorrow’ s actionable outcomes. That’ s exactly what Mining Indaba 2026 stands for: Stronger Together, Progress Through Partnerships – because only collective effort can turn opportunity into impact.”
The Johannesburg dialogue underscored key priorities African leaders hope to advance at Indaba:
• A unified African position on critical minerals.
• Partners willing to co-invest in regional value chains.
• A shift from extraction to industrialisation.
• A stronger African voice in global minerals governance.
As Cape Town prepares to host the biggest mining event of the year, Africa can move beyond raw material exports to become a decisive player in the global minerals’ economy. Since 1994, Investing in African Mining Indaba has been the # 1 platform for deal sourcing and corporate matchmaking for the African mining industry. It continues to serve as the most comprehensive gathering for African mining investment, finance, innovation, and transformation to support end-to-end value creation. � sabusinessintegrator. co. za 15