Next Africa: Resource nationalism or a fair share?
The green energy transition is inspiring a wave of resource nationalism across Africa.
Namibia banned the export of unprocessed lithium ore, following a similar measure enacted by Zimbabwe in December.
Ghana Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Jinapor, told Bloomberg’s New Economy Gateway Africa conference in Morocco that his country will do the same.
“Under no circumstances will we export our lithium ore in its raw form, we will not,” Jinapor said last week. His Namibian counterpart, Tom Alweendo, echoed those sentiments in an interview.
Africa has some of the world’s biggest deposits of the metals the world needs, especially to transition to green energy – lithium, copper and manganese to name a few.
An electric car needs six times the amount those minerals a conventional vehicle requires to function, while an onshore wind-power plant uses nine times the materials a comparable gas-fired facility would demand, according to the International Energy Agency.
Africa is moving to ramp up production, but almost all the output is shipped off as ore. There are only a few solar-panels or wind-turbine manufacturers and no major battery or electric-vehicle plants on the continent.
It makes sense to demand a greater share of revenue, with the global market for electric vehicles alone estimated to be worth $7 trillion by 2030 by BloombergNEF.
But the nations will need to be careful not to overplay their hands.
Jinapor acknowledged that Ghana is unlikely to capture the entire value chain and pledged a transparent process before banning ore exports.
Zimbabwe barred shipments overnight. A mining company federation lodged a complaint that offtake contracts were breached and loans couldn’t be serviced as stockpiles of lithium ore built up in the country.
With huge reserves, Africa has a chance to sit atop the new-world commodity hierarchy.
