Mineral-rich Zambia, South Africa Aim to Lead Global Clean Energy Research
Zambia and South Africa are leading Africa in laying the groundwork to transform their vast mineral wealth into platforms for research, clean-tech development, and innovation.
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Zambia, South Africa, and other African countries are seeding mining innovation ecosystems that could shift their role in the global energy transition, from resource suppliers to technology producers.
According to Felicia Ncube, a mineral economist and advisor to the African Union Commission, “it is part of a broader global reckoning with supply chain sovereignty and innovation equity.”
“If innovation continues to be concentrated in more developed economies while critical inputs come from the South, we’re setting up an unsustainable imbalance,” adds Professor André Visser, a mining systems analyst at Stellenbosch University.
Africa holds over 30% of the world’s known reserves of critical transition minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium, and nickel. Yet the continent remains largely excluded from the global mining innovation ecosystem.
Most mining technologies, those enabling cleaner, safer, and more efficient extraction and processing, are developed, tested, and commercialized in countries like the U.S., Australia, and Canada.
Despite this imbalance, several African countries are moving fast to lay the foundation for local innovation ecosystems to ensure African countries are not just exporting raw materials, but leading the clean energy shift using the continent’s mineral endowment as a launchpad.
Zambia and South Africa are leading the continent in these efforts.
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Zambia’s Copperbelt region has long been a cornerstone of global copper supply. Now, university labs, tech hubs, and policy think tanks are emerging, promising to spark homegrown mining innovation. Its 2024 National Critical Minerals Strategy lays out a vision for local value addition, downstream processing, and expanded research and development.
This vision is already backed by institutional investment. Both the University of Zambia and Copperbelt University have launched research centres focused on geometallurgy, mineral processing, and hydrogeology.
Copperbelt University also hosts the UniPod, a design and prototyping lab supporting early-stage mining tech development.
The country is also home to the pan-African MineTech Hub, launched in 2024 as part of the UNDP-backed Timbuktu Initiative. It supports innovators across 21 African countries, offering up to US$25,000 in seed grants, pilot testing support, and commercialization coaching.
In less than a year, the hub has received over 350 applications, a strong signal of pent-up demand among African innovators.
Zambia is also advancing plans for a “Rock Warehouse,” a shared space offering access to geological samples and small-scale testing, reducing dependence on expensive, foreign-based labs.
“We see a lot of demand from innovators, but the accessibility is just not quite there,” said Luck during the report launch.
South Africa, by contrast, boasts a more mature research ecosystem, but one facing systemic bottlenecks.
The Mandela Mining Precinct, co-led by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Minerals Council South Africa, is a flagship public-private platform supporting OEMs, universities, and service providers.
The Wits University DigiMine lab is now a continental leader in digital mining research, while the University of Pretoria’s Mining Resilience Research Centre focuses on sustainability and systems innovation.
Yet moving from lab to market remains a hurdle. Risk-averse procurement among large mining companies slows the demonstration and adoption of promising technologies.
Meanwhile, startups struggle to raise Series A funding in a landscape still dominated by traditional equipment suppliers.
Information silos add another barrier. “The biggest challenge is the lack of information and data sharing,” said Julie Courtnage of the Mandela Mining Precinct. “We need to avoid situations where the same solution is developed twice because teams aren’t talking to each other.”
Even where innovations break through, scale is elusive. South Africa’s Isidingo Challenge, through its OEM cluster, has supported the development of next-generation rock drills, but large-scale adoption remains limited.
Zambia also faces hurdles. The country relies on imports for nearly 99% of its mining equipment, creating delays and higher costs for local innovators.
Still, both countries are beginning to use policy to close these gaps. South Africa’s draft Critical Minerals Strategy, developed by Mintek, promotes local beneficiation and international co-development. Partners from Brazil, Japan, and Australia are already exploring joint ventures.
In Zambia, mineral policy is now integrated with industrial strategy, aiming to position the country as not just a copper exporter, but a regional hub for mining innovation and clean-tech manufacturing.
These shifts are already shaping how donors and investors approach Africa’s mining opportunity.
The Cleantech Group report highlights high-impact interventions, from business accelerators and testing facilities to corporate matchmaking and artisan-focused innovation funds.
Among the most ambitious is the proposed Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) Fund. The fund would offer seed capital, training, and market access to Zambia’s estimated 600,000 artisanal miners, an often-overlooked source of local innovation.
As the global energy transition accelerates, the risk grows that Africa once again plays the role of raw material supplier, without capturing the economic or technological upside.
According to a 2025 Cleantech report, global venture capital investment in mining technologies rose from $100 million in 2020 to over $1.2 billion in 2023, a more than tenfold increase.
Yet over 80% of that capital went to just three countries: the United States, Canada, and Australia. Africa, despite its mineral wealth, captured less than 5%.
The report also notes that while average deal sizes ballooned, from $3.1 million in 2020 to over $33 million in 2024, most of this capital went to later-stage ventures. Early-stage hard tech startups in emerging markets, including Africa, saw funding shrink.
Madeleine Luck, science lead at the Quadrature Climate Foundation, which co-authored the report, warns that global innovation risks becoming myopic. “We’re at risk of missing transformative solutions if Global South innovators can’t compete,” she said during a webinar on the findings.
She argued that philanthropic capital must play a catalytic role, not just to fill gaps, but to unlock broader finance. “By de-risking certain innovations or opening up space for new ideas and actors to emerge, especially where capital is scarce, we can shift the landscape.”
Noah Ross, a senior consultant at Cleantech Group, echoed the urgency. “Public funding is absolutely essential,” he said. “Countries like the U.S. and Australia are pulling ahead not just through private capital but via billions in government-backed grants and loans.”
With the right support, Africa’s mineral advantage may yet become its innovation edge.
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