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Katja Hamilton
Afreximbank's EVP highlights Africa’s mineral wealth as key to industrial development
Speaking at Mining Indaba, Kanayo Awani, EVP of Afreximbank, emphasised that Africa’s rich mineral resources are crucial for the continent's industrial development, social progress, and economic prosperity. In her address, themed “Redefining Critical Minerals – Critical for Who?”, Awani outlined the paradox of Africa’s abundant mineral wealth contrasted with its limited local benefits due to inadequate infrastructure, unclear policies, and insufficient financing.
She urged for increased investments in value addition and processing facilities to elevate Africa in global value chains, creating jobs and fostering a skilled workforce.
Highlighting successful examples, she praised Botswana's diamond industry, South Africa’s advancements in fuel cell technology, Ghana’s lithium production management, and Namibia’s ban on exporting raw lithium, all leading in value addition efforts.
“The paradox lies in the fact that whilst our continent is a treasure trove of resources, the benefits of these resources often flow outside our borders, leaving local communities and economies deprived,” she said.
“For a continent that is endowed with such vast quantities of natural resources, the state of development across its length and breadth remains a puzzle.”
Strategic partnerships
Awani also detailed Afreximbank’s numerous initiatives, including their partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat to establish a $10bn Adjustment Fund to support African countries in the AfCFTA and a $500m concessionary finance window to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Other key initiatives mentioned were the DRC-Zambia battery precursor manufacturing special economic zones Initiative aimed at the battery electric vehicle value chain, a project preparation facility for Nigeria’s first floating liquefied natural gas facility, and the development of African Quality Assurance Centres for international trade compliance.
She pointed to the potential to broaden these quality assurance centres to include mineral certification, reducing dependency on overseas certification, and highlighted the local content mining services programme aimed at job creation and inclusive growth.
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