Online Reporter
Sikhulekelani Moyo
Zimpapers Business Hub
THE Southern African Development Community says local processing and value addition of key energy transition minerals is the region’s fastest route to industrialisation and economic diversification, as global demand for minerals powering the green economy continues to surge.
The message was reinforced at the 9th SADC Industrialisation Week and Exhibition held in Durban, South Africa, recently, under the theme “Resilient, Sustainable and Inclusive Industrialisation through Infrastructure Development, Agricultural and Critical Minerals Transformation in Pursuit of a Just World.”
A key initiative showcased was a five-year regional project on responsible and inclusive energy transition mineral value chains.
Financially supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and led by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the project is promoting responsible mining and sustainable industrialisation across six SADC countries.
The project is being implemented in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which hold vast reserves of cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, platinum group metals and rare earth elements.
“From copper in Zambia, cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, manganese in South Africa and lithium in Zimbabwe, the SADC region is key to a clean energy future and to green industrialisation around the world,” organisers noted.
UNECA economic affairs officer Dr Oliver Maponga said the project directly supports industrial policy.
“Our work, through the project on promoting ESG principles and responsible mining, directly contributes to sustainable industrialisation because environmental governance is critical in shaping industrial policy across the SADC region,” he said.
He added that responsible exploitation and value addition of critical energy transition minerals (CETMs) are key contributors to value chain development, industrialisation, transformation, and economic diversification.
Implementing partners include the African union Commission’s African Minerals Development Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits Enterprise), WWF Germany, the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and Projekt Consult GmbH.
The project aims to deliver Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-compliant mining policies, improved environmental and climate monitoring, strengthened participation and benefit-sharing for local mining communities and enhanced community capacity in mining areas.
A panel convened by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on ‘Towards Competitive and Resilient Industrialisation in SADC’ focused on aligning regional policies with enterprises, traders and mining communities, with special attention to artisanal and small-scale miners.
“Artisanal and small-scale miners occupy important nodes in the supply of critical energy transition minerals as reliable sources of the minerals despite their technological, financial and skills limitations,” Dr Maponga said.
“We need to ensure that the benefits that result from responsible mining and processing of critical energy transition minerals trickle down to the entire mining value chain.”
Empowering artisanal and small-scale miners is also listed as a key recommendation in the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals.
SADC executive secretary Mr Elias Magosi said the region has the mineral resources, markets and partnerships needed to industrialise, but must now prioritise investment in infrastructure and skills, transformation of agricultural value chains, and beneficiation of critical energy transition minerals at source.
With demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earths projected to almost triple by 2030, Sadc leaders say moving beyond raw exports to integrated value chains will be central to turning the region’s mineral wealth into jobs, industries and inclusive growth.
