Cape Town, South Africa – Africa holds an estimated $29.5 trillion in mine-site mineral value, representing about 20% of global mineral wealth, yet continues to capture only a fraction of the economic benefits, according to a report by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
Okay News reports that the report, titled Compendium of Africa’s Strategic Minerals and launched at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, reframes Africa’s mineral sector through a development-focused lens that prioritises industrialisation, infrastructure, and long-term regional demand.
The AFC estimates that about $8.6 trillion of the continent’s mineral wealth remains undeveloped due to fragmented geological data, limited transparency, and uneven coverage, which increase investment risk and constrain exploration capital. Improving the quality and availability of geological data is seen as a critical first step to unlocking funding and reducing project uncertainty.
The report notes that current mine-site valuations underestimate Africa’s true potential because they exclude the value added when raw minerals are processed into steel, aluminium, fertilisers, batteries, and alloys. Measured at the point of industrial use, Africa’s mineral endowment expands significantly, revealing substantial latent economic value.
AFC President and CEO Samaila Zubairu said the Compendium maps full value chains, linking reserves to power, transport infrastructure, and regional industrial corridors to improve transparency, lower capital costs, and guide smarter investment decisions.
The report also highlights that mineral production, enabling infrastructure, and demand rarely align at scale in Africa. Many supply chains remain tied to Asian markets, leaving the continent exposed to global shocks. Recent slowdowns in Asian steel demand, for instance, have affected cobalt production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, primary steelmaking in South Africa, and manganese operations in Gabon.
Infrastructure is central to Africa’s mineral strategy. Reliable power, efficient transport, and access to industrial land are key to enabling local beneficiation, reducing costs, and supporting regional industrial growth. Emerging projects include rare earth magnet metals in Angola, graphite and anode materials in Mozambique, battery-grade manganese in Southern Africa, and renewed uranium production in Namibia and Malawi.
