- Critical Minerals Boom Must Deliver Factories, Technology and Jobs – Goosie Tanoh
Africa must use the global race for critical minerals to build domestic industries rather than deepen its historic dependence on raw commodity exports, according to Augustus “Goosie” Tanoh, Senior Presidential Advisor on the 24-Hour Economy.
Mr Tanoh said rising demand for lithium, cobalt, graphite and other minerals used in electric vehicles, renewable energy technologies and advanced manufacturing had created a rare opportunity for the continent to reshape its development model.
But he warned that the opportunity could be lost if African countries continued to export unprocessed minerals while refining, manufacturing, technological development and higher-value employment remained concentrated elsewhere.
Addressing a high-level conference on governance, critical minerals and conflict in Africa, Mr Tanoh argued that the continent’s progress should no longer be judged by the tonnage of minerals exported or the value of raw commodity sales.
The more meaningful measure, he said, should be the number of industries created, technologies developed, supply chains localised and skilled jobs generated from Africa’s resource base.
The intervention comes as governments across the continent seek a larger share of the economic value associated with the global energy transition.
Demand for critical minerals is expanding as countries invest in batteries, electric mobility, renewable power systems, digital infrastructure and other technologies considered central to the shift away from fossil fuels.
Africa holds significant deposits of several of those minerals, giving the continent strategic importance in global supply chains.
Yet the structure of many African economies remains largely extractive. Minerals are frequently exported in raw or lightly processed form, while the more profitable stages of refining, component manufacturing, assembly and research are carried out abroad.
Mr Tanoh said continuing that model would reproduce the same economic pattern that has shaped the continent for decades: Africa supplies the raw material, while other regions capture the technology, industrial capability and higher-value employment.
The central challenge is therefore not simply to increase mineral production, but to connect extraction to a wider industrial system.
That would require investment in refining, processing, manufacturing, energy, transport, logistics, technology and technical education.
Mr Tanoh positioned Ghana’s proposed 24-Hour Economy programme as a framework through which such linkages could be developed.
The initiative could connect mining operations with around-the-clock manufacturing, transport, energy services, warehousing and industrial support systems, allowing mineral resources to feed into a broader domestic production base.
In this model, lithium would not be valued only as an export commodity but as an input for battery manufacturing and related industries. Graphite, cobalt and manganese would similarly become part of industrial supply chains rather than remaining isolated mining products.
The approach would also require governments to treat mineral policy as part of industrial policy rather than as a narrow question of licensing and royalties.
Mining ministries, investment agencies, education authorities, energy regulators and trade institutions would need to work within a coherent strategy aimed at building competitive domestic industries.
Mr Tanoh argued that resource-rich countries must negotiate for technology transfer, local processing, skills development and industrial investment when engaging international mining companies.
Local-content requirements should extend beyond the procurement of basic goods and services to include engineering capability, research, specialised maintenance, manufacturing and participation in higher-value segments of the supply chain.
The warning reflects growing dissatisfaction with mining models that generate export earnings and tax revenue but create limited industrial transformation.
Mining can contribute significantly to gross domestic product and foreign-exchange receipts while remaining weakly connected to the rest of the economy.
Where equipment, technology, financing and specialist services are imported, much of the value generated by extraction may leave the country even when minerals are produced locally.
A stronger industrial strategy would seek to retain more of that value through domestic production and deeper regional supply chains.
No single African economy may possess the market size, infrastructure or technical capability to host every stage of the critical minerals value chain. Regional integration would therefore be essential.
Countries could specialise in different parts of the process, with minerals extracted in one jurisdiction, refined in another and used in manufacturing clusters serving the wider African market.
The African Continental Free Trade Area could support such an approach by reducing barriers to regional commerce and creating a larger market for locally manufactured industrial products.
But Mr Tanoh said governance would ultimately determine whether mineral wealth became a source of broad-based prosperity or another driver of inequality and conflict.
The rapid expansion of demand could encourage opaque licensing, weak environmental enforcement and competition among political and commercial interests for control of mineral assets.
Without credible institutions, the critical minerals boom could intensify land disputes, community displacement, corruption and environmental degradation.
Transparent contracts, accountable revenue management and effective regulatory oversight would therefore be essential.
Host communities must also participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their land, livelihoods and environment, Mr Tanoh said.
Local participation should extend beyond consultation towards measurable access to jobs, business opportunities, infrastructure and a fair share of the economic benefits created by mining.
Environmental safeguards will be particularly important because many critical mineral projects require substantial land, water and energy.
A development strategy built around clean-energy technologies would lose credibility if the extraction of their inputs polluted water sources, destroyed agricultural land or displaced communities without adequate compensation.
Mr Tanoh’s argument suggests that Africa must resist a false choice between mineral development and environmental protection.
The more durable strategy would combine industrial expansion with strong regulation, cleaner production methods and credible rehabilitation obligations.
Energy supply will be another decisive constraint.
Processing and manufacturing require reliable and competitively priced electricity. Countries may possess strategic minerals but remain unable to capture significant value if power shortages and high tariffs make domestic production uncompetitive.
Infrastructure, ports, railways and industrial zones will also determine whether mineral-rich countries can attract investment beyond extraction.
The financing requirements are substantial, and African governments alone may not be able to provide all the capital required.
Private investment will remain necessary, but the terms of that investment will shape how much value stays on the continent.
Governments will need to provide regulatory certainty while ensuring that incentives granted to investors produce measurable industrial outcomes.
Tax concessions and access to mineral resources should be tied to performance commitments involving local processing, employment, technology transfer and supplier development.
Mr Tanoh’s intervention reframes the critical minerals debate as a question of economic sovereignty.
The continent’s strategic advantage does not lie merely in owning deposits sought by global industries. It lies in using those resources to acquire technology, build productive capacity and create durable employment.
The global energy transition will proceed with or without deeper African industrial participation.
The central question is whether the continent will remain principally a supplier of raw materials or use the current demand cycle to build the industries that process, manufacture and innovate around them.
For Mr Tanoh, the answer will depend on whether African governments act with a coherent industrial strategy before the opportunity narrows.
