In March 2025, the African Union unveiled the Africa Green Minerals Strategy (AGMS), a bold plan to leverage the continent’s vast mineral wealth for sustainable development. With backing from key pan-African institutions, this strategy aims to drive equitable industrialization, clean energy access, and economic prosperity for Africans.
Africa is home to critical minerals like cobalt, lithium, and manganese, essential for the global energy transition. Yet, while the EU, China, and the US push their own green mineral policies, Africa’s strategy stands apart. They prioritize local value chains, skills development, and industrial growth rather than merely serving as a supplier to foreign markets.
The AGMS’ main goal is harnessing Africa’s untapped energy potential, including 584 GW of hydropower and 7,900 GW of solar capacity, to power industries and homes. It can reach it through four pillars: mineral development, skills and technology, value-chain expansion, and responsible stewardship.
Additionally, it’ll prioritize dealing with weak regulations, underfunded STEM education, and fragmented trade policies. To make it work, two urgent steps are needed:
- Finalize the Africa Free Trade Agreement AfCFTA trade rules for green tech (like EVs and solar panels) to boost intra-African trade and scale up local production.
- Adopt continent-wide tariffs on select minerals to protect emerging industries and encourage processing within Africa.
The AGMS isn’t just policy—it’s a blueprint for self-reliance. Governments, businesses, and civil society must act now to transform Africa’s mineral wealth into lasting progress.
Add a Comment