Pleased to share our new Carnegie Africa policy outlook on "Maximizing the Benefits of the Renewed Global Interest in Africa’s Strategic Minerals". Written by Folashadé Soulé, PhD, it summarizes the insights shared by the government, private sector and civil society participants of the workshop we convened during the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2024 conference in Cape Town South Africa. A few highlights: - The workshop objectives were to share challenges and successes faced during the contract negotiation process for mining deals (including around "critical" minerals) and to consider how to maximize financial gains, create linkages to the domestic economy, build local supply chains, and comply with labor and environmental standards. - The workshop focused specifically on how African governments can best tackle the challenges and harness opportunities during the negotiation process—both from governments’ and investors’ perspectives. Several aspects of the process were covered: for instance, from the governments’ perspectives, how to prioritize policy frameworks and design a national strategy to define the “criticality” of minerals; and from the investors’ perspectives, how to better structure the negotiation process and ensure compliance with strict environment, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Lessons from the experience of other countries, especially Indonesia, were also shared. - Finally, the workshop covered the best ways African governments can bridge capacity gaps while dealing with investors and operating at the national and continental levels. Overall, the workshop allowed for candid discussions on how African countries can bolster their agency in the process and how key stakeholders can support the negotiation capacity of African governments. Our profound thanks to the workshop participants and the Investing in African Mining Indaba team. Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/e7tDnbhY #criticalminerals #batteryminerals #industrialization #energytransition
This is such important work - congratulations and thanks Zainab Usman, Ph.D. There are some additional perspectives that can enrich this discussion and the frameworks discussed. My sense is that the lens of transaction oriented financiers can be added. We also are working on approaches to diversifying the sources of financial capital. If this is of interest please DM me. And am tagging my colleagues who could bring those perspectives Tshepo Magagane Ntlai Mosiah Stephen Stuart
Looking forward to reading this Dr Usman!
Climate, Peace and Security. Founder Goro Initiative
3wA very important conversation. Nigeria could generate a good amount of jobs and revenue by putting in place the right mechanisms The benefits are enormous, especially since some existing frameworks like research grants and scholarships can be used for developing sustainable processes for mining, processing and land restoration It is also a matter of National Security to diversify the export of mineral resources.