by E K Bensah Jr.
Over the past month, two conferences have helped sharpen my outlook on the oft-quoted narrative of “critical minerals.”
The first meeting, held on 28 April in Addis Ababa, was a Regional Forum entitled “Harnessing Africa’s Critical Minerals for Green Industrialisation and Sustainable Development.” I served as a panellist under the theme “Pathways to Beneficiation and Regional Value Chains in Critical Minerals.”
To prepare for the panel work, I wrote a short paper accentuating the example of the moribund Zambia-Malawi-Mozambique Growth Triangle (ZMM-GT) that was established by the UNDP in 1999. It’s considered a moribund triangle, despite the establishment of a Secretariat.
The momentum for the three countries to cohere in similar energies to make it an actuality seems to have fizzled out over the twenty-five 8years.
However, I argued that in the conversation on beneficiation, “Beneficiation—the local processing and transformation of minerals into higher-value intermediates and finished products—offers a pathway to reverse this dynamic, creating jobs, fostering industrialization, and generating sustainable revenue.”I explained that ZMM-GT remains “one of Africa’s earliest experiments in “new regionalism,” and that the ZMM-GT targets the tri-border zone encompassing Zambia’s Eastern and Muchinga provinces, Malawi’s central and southern districts, and Mozambique’s Tete and Niassa provinces.”
As compared to formal treaties, it functions “as a flexible, pragmatic platform for cross-border infrastructure, investment, and joint ventures in agriculture, energy, tourism, transport, and mining.”
This suggests that its revival – an imperative to strengthen integration in that area – and alignment with critical minerals agendas today position it as a vital enabler for Regional Value Chains (RVCs).
I further argued that “the emergence of regional value chains (RVCs) represents a strategic shift toward an authentically African model of development: one that prioritizes intra-African integration, shared infrastructure, complementary resource endowments, and equitable benefit-sharing under frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
”What makes this shift critical is that “at the heart of this evolution lies the Zambia-DRC Transboundary Battery and Electric Vehicle Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a flagship initiative launched through high-level agreements in 2022–2023.”
The SEZ notwithstanding, there remains immense potential if we just take a quick look at what the three countries possess by way of minerals.
Zambia and the DRC dominate cobalt and copper (core cathode materials). Malawi is advancing graphite and rare-earth projects (such as the Kasiya rutile-graphite deposit), with output routed via Mozambican ports. Mozambique hosts world-class graphite deposits (Balama and others), and is now moving rapidly into local beneficiation with major processing facilities inaugurated in 2026.
Altogether, these resources allow the construction of a complete battery value chain within the triangle: cobalt and copper precursors refined in the SEZ; graphite anodes processed in Mozambican or Malawian nodes, and assembly potentially distributed across integrated SEZs.
The long and short of this starts with appreciating the fact that the potential in the ZMM-GT remains an important lever for deepening regional integration in Southern Africa.
In the final analysis, I averred, “the Zambia-Malawi-Mozambique Growth Triangle is not a peripheral initiative but a strategic multiplier for the Zambia-DRC battery SEZ.”
By stitching together infrastructure, complementary minerals, and coordinated industrial policy, “the ZMM-GT transforms bilateral ambition into a regional ecosystem capable of capturing far greater value from critical minerals.”
Critical Minerals, Value-Addition
The narrative of value-addition from critical minerals also featured highly at the second meeting I attended in Dakar, Senegal.
The Regional Forum, held in Dakar from 5-6 May, was the Fifth Continental Forum on Extractive Industries, Business and Human Rights, and Environment in Africa.
The 2026 Continental Forum was convened as a standalone platform outside of the African Commission’s public session. It was also held within the broader context of the fortieth anniversary of the African Charter, which is a landmark instrument affirming the collective rights of peoples to freely dispose of their wealth and natural resources and to enjoy a satisfactory environment favourable to their development.
Denis Gyeyir, Open Society Foundations (OSF), spoke at the opening ceremony on day one.
He explained how “we have heard about the need for value-addition of African countries. But we know that critical minerals have the potential for violation of human rights: fertile land for food security might be destroyed.”He went on to say how “there are manifold human rights areas in the conversation on critical minerals”, and how “we need safeguards” as “we are seeing data centres in countries like South Africa.” This is significant as “Cloud computing and AI require exploitation of critical minerals.”
Gyeyir explained that 400MW of power is used for data centres. There is a water footprint, which translates to five million gallons of potable water. “Centres need to be cooled by freshwater, which is enough to service a town of 50000 people.”
This gargantuan effort could be channelled into more worthy development sectors, but the rush means profit runs roughshod over development.
For Hon. Commissioner Solomon Derso, Chair of the Working Group on Extractives, “Africa is the continent that powers the global economy.”
In his view, “in the rush for critical minerals, for whom are they critical? Are they going to be a source of curse rather than a blessing? What responsibility do we have to stop this?”, he wondered as he made his opening remarks on Day one.
Reason for which he believes there needs to be “legal and institutional mechanisms at the national level that fulfil compliance with the Charter.”
He also believes we need such mechanisms at the continental level to be able to protect states from transnational companies whose resources can sometimes outweigh a country’s own.
For Denis Gyeyir’s part, because we have seen “corporate recklessness” from Congo to Zambia and Kenya, the private sector needs to be part of the solutions we seek. He stressed “They will not do it voluntarily.”
In his view, “states often become complicit in protecting corporate recklessness.” Consequently, “we need to tackle that problem with regional and legislative instruments.”He concluded that sovereignty must be “affirmed” in the context of critical minerals.
For the Senegalese Minister of Energy and Mines, H.E. Diop’s part, he believes we need to have a vision linked to the challenges as “our resources always leave the continent, and people follow the resources as they cross the oceans.”
He continued “all wars since World War 2 were linked to resources.”, with Iran, he avers, as the latest example.In the Minister’s view, “there’s no global problem that has no link to resources”, reason for which, he believes, the minerals remain “critical for those seeking them”, but should be “strategic” for those of us who own them!He made an important call for Africa “to harmonise Africa’s positions and defend them – as we have the resources!”
H.E. Ambassador Willy Nyamitwe, Acting Chairperson, PRC Sub-Committee on Human Rights, spoke affirmatively about how our natural resources have been travelling more than ordinary people. Although it was the same itinerary, the people left African soil to venture across the oceans.
For the Ambassador, the irony is that the youth also use the seas to leave our countries for greener pastures.
He expressed satisfaction to see the meeting happening in Senegal as he believed it was an essential space to share ideas.
Nyamitwe averred that natural resources are “intrinsically linked to peace and security.”It is for this reason he was emphatic that the outcomes of the two-day meeting would be expeditiously forwarded to the AU’s Executive Council for summary action.
The keynote presentation was by Dr.Donald Deya, CEO of Pan-African Lawyer’s Union(PALU).
For Deya’s part, it was “important to signpost [the] 40-year journey” of the African Commission, especially in the last 20 years, “and the soft law that it has generated, and continues to generate.”
While praising the quality of the participation, he lamented who else might have needed to be in the room – or is there, but in insufficient numbers, which include parts of the African Union that deal with trade and the economy.
He recommended the need for the private sector, ranging from MNCs; MSMEs; to also be in the room at the next meeting.
Deya added how Africa’s greatest resource is its people – especially young people, so we must pay attention to that as well. He believes “we must mainstream ACHPR State Reporting Guidelines on articles 21 & 24 into Agenda 2063; a monitoring and evaluation framework so that AU and ACHPR reporting cycles are aligned.
With respect to continental frameworks, Deya emphasised how the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) remains “the central continental policy with implementation through AMDC, but it predates critical minerals rush and AfCFTA Investment Protocol.”
He stressed how we must “tie AMV to AfCFTA Phase II Investment Protocol implementation.”
He believes Africa must “champion an African Common Position on Critical Minerals – anchored in Charter Articles 21, 22 and 24.”
For Deya, he believes, we must use the AU theme of water “to put water and sanitation safeguards into the heart of mining; oil and gas licensing.”He laments how despite “AfCFTA’s benefits”, its “implementation suffers from purely economic orientation, without a human rights basis.”
Finally, he concluded in his keynote, Deya hopes to see “more of Banjul in Addis Ababa and Accra.”, while “bridging the gaps between government; private sector; trade; and human and people’s rights.”
Bob Felix Ocitti, of the AU’s Africa Energy Commission, explained how African countries should begin rethinking mineral resource management.
Giving an example of the DRC Cobalt supply chain, he revealed how traditional resource governance asks “how do we extract resources efficiently and profitably?”, whereas sustainable resource governance asks a totally different question – “how do we manage resources so they create long-term value without destroying people, ecosystems, or future options?”
Whereas the old model was explicit linear exploitation, there’s a newer model – the G20/AMV model – that prioritises value chain integration that sees extraction that segues to local beneficiation, and ultimately high-value products and services.
Ocitti believes this is the model that more African countries have to encourage – and it is possible as the AU has done a lot of work on minerals through AMDC’s tools, which include Africa Minerals Governance Framework; Country Mining Vision guidebook; and the African Green Minerals Strategy.
For Dr. Laura Ani, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, “countries need to domesticate the AMV before they can take advantage of AfCFTA”.
She sincerely believes there should be a national Green Minerals implementation plan for all African countries.
Day two ended with other important presentations – each of which spoke explicitly to the preservation of human rights.
Esther Finda Kindah, of Sierra Leone, elaborated on “Women on Mining and Extractives” in Sierra Leone.
She lamented the poor conditions for women, and how this was inhibiting their voices to express their concerns around mining in Sierra Leone.
Esther concluded her presentation by making a stentorian call for co-ownership by the community and governments. After all, she emphasized, “Governments come and go, but communities remain!”
For her part, Opal Sibanda, of African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), recommended how “regional and human rights bodies should work more closely with ACERWC” so as to advance human and children’s rights on the continent.
Stella Ndirangu, FIDH, made reference to case studies in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, and explained that voluntary standards don’t help with enforcing accountability. Stella called for national, and regional mechanisms to protect human rights that are binding.
The two-day meeting ended with a meeting on the environment, specifically developing a general comment on the protection and promotion of the Right to the Environment in Africa.
Conclusion
This was the first time I had been invited to the ACHPR’s regional forum, and was impressed by the efficiency of the programme.
The protocol was on point – they met me with a placard at the airport and delivered me into an SUV straight to Axil Hotel.
Although the programme was packed and intense, the expertise was varied and rich: every panel member had important things to share.
The Ogiek case – exemplifying complementarity between the Court and the Commission was brilliant in hammering home a success case of human rights “à la africaine.”
Finally, it was humbling to be at the Forum in the Commission’s 40th anniversary, reflecting over how the continent had made tremendous strides in strengthening human rights of the African Commission.
But, there are a couple more important points I need to make.
During my time in Dakar, I took the opportunity to catch up on historical antecedents of Agenda 2063’s SAATM – specifically the Yamassoukro Decision (I was in the AU’s aviation capital after all!) I made time to catch a hotel car uptown to the old airport area (Leopold Senghor), where the African Civil Aviation Commission (AfCAC) is located.
It was great to meet two staff there who kept me up to date on the upcoming Lome meeting in June.
Before all that, I had made time to read the Natural Resources Institute’s 2025 publication “Regionalizing African Mineral Value Chains: Requirements for Success”
Something shifted in a major way.
Here I was with 25 years of regional integration expertise across different sectors, and still realizing the integration agenda was far from over.
Here I also was sitting between a conversation I had attended in East Africa a week earlier, and finding the same issue of critical minerals also being addressed with urgency in West Africa. Clearly, it struck me I was sitting and watching history unfold, but how could I impact it positively?
The “regionalisation” report was a good start as it accentuated the importance of regional integration, offering successful examples across the world that had made regional value chains work.
From the European-centred Airbus to ASEAN’s Free Trade Area to the age-old SACU, examples abound of success stories in integration that serve as great examples of benefit-sharing. While imperfect, they exist. How do we take this into the conversation on extractives, deepen it, and make it marketable?
The answer is, at first, obvious: we continue to go into spaces in Addis; Dakar; Accra; Abidjan; and wherever else with intentionality that we leave with a take-away that advances the African integration conversation. Even a line in a final statement is good enough to make traction.
For me as founder of #7AUAgencies, a project I created in 2024 to highlight seven African Union agencies that have explicit synergies with Agenda 2063, but also are working in their own spaces to join the cogs of the integration wheel towards a future where the AU serves as a global player (aspiration 7), I see the shift as a powerful reminder to continue connecting the dots of Africa’s integration through continued synergy.
If we are talking about critical minerals, then we need to reference the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) as the “primus inter pares” of AU agencies, while making a stentorian call for ratification of AMDC statutes.
When we go into spaces of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), which focuses primarily on promoting African human rights, we must be accentuating how they interlink with the larger African agenda, especially Agenda 2063.
When intersected with extractives, business and human rights, you know the obvious AU agency has to be AMDC. But, because of the corruption that comes with contracts around the mining sector and major conversations about trade corridors, the imperative is for the AU Advisory Board Against Corruption (AUABC) to also be included in critical discussions.
This came out at the Dakar meeting, as well as the continued need to market the Africa Mining Vision to make sense for those who need to implement it. There’s no conversation on critical minerals that can be had absent from referencing AMDC.
If we are to make sense of Agenda 2063, and the Africa we want, it’s about bringing the bonfire of synergies together in a way that moves away from the bonfire of vanities we saw decades earlier, where AU agencies were working in silos.Time is running out. We cannot wait till 2063 to realise the Agenda.
Those of us who have been hiding but monitoring, it’s time to transform the monitoring into an impact of churning out positive narratives that hit the headlines across the media. The media doesn’t need an onslaught; they need a blitz of messaging that coheres around their own editorial agendas.
If the US attack on Iran has quickly changed travel routes from the West to a preference for Asian and African destinations, this reminds us that everything truly changes but the sea!
It is believed the best way to create the future is to invent it. With all the existing plans – Lagos Plan of Action; Abuja Treaty; Agenda 2063 – what are we waiting for to envision – and act on – a better future for the continent?
ENDS
**video clips – & pictures – of opening session of #ACHPRExtractiveForum available on tiktok (@ekbensah); IG (@ekbensah); Facebook (@ekbensah).
