By Yemi Olakitan
To encourage sustainable industrialization, the African nations, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA),have called on Africa to switch to renewable energy sources.
Mr. Antonio Pedro, the acting executive secretary, made this statement during a panel discussion in Niamey, Niger.
Prior to the Ninth Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development on February 28, 2023, the conversation was jointly organized by UNECA and Afreximbank.
Developing a regional battery material value chain in Africa is the topic of the panel discussion.
In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the Agenda 2063 for Africa, and the Paris Climate Accord, Pedro claimed that nations also needed renewable energy sources.
The transition to renewable energy sources, according to the acting executive secretary, is a resource-intensive path that necessitates increased production of a number of minerals essential to decarbonization.
“A lot of these minerals are found in Africa. For instance, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) generates more than 70% of the cobalt consumed worldwide.
“We have clear opportunities not only from the global green mineral boom but also from our domestic achievements, like the African Continental Free-Trade Area to facilitate the development of regional value chains for these green economy products. The DRC and Zambia together supply 10% of the world’s copper while Mozambique and South Africa hold significant reserves of graphite, platinum metals, lithium, and more.”
Additionally, he cited various cutting-edge finance techniques that had been created to support programs like the value chains for batteries and electric automobiles.
Without the proper enabling policies and incentives, commodities super-cycles can come and go, leaving our countries dependent on resource exploitation, as we’ve seen over the past 20 years.
He disagreed with the idea that roughly 70% of the region’s exports were raw materials.
He discussed how the current situation could be altered with the appropriate policies that gave industrialization and value-addition in the mining and other resource industries top priority.
Pedro also urged the creation of an ecosystem that tapped on African skills, know-how, and partnerships.
Ms. Oluranti Doherty, Director of Export Development, Afreximbank, also spoke, lamenting the continent’s inability to migrate to a more energy-efficient system.
Doherty claimed that this was true despite the fact that Africa is rich in a variety of minerals, including copper, magnesium, nickel, and cobalt.
Doherty, however, asserted that the bank was fostering the industrialization of the continent and helping industrial parks and Special Economic Zones in Zambia and the DRC to develop and grow.
“We will enable the start of studies to facilitate the establishment of this facility,” the statement reads. “We are working on a framework agreement for special economic zones for the production of batteries, electric vehicles, and accessories.”
Also, Mr. Jean-Marie Kanda from the University of Lubumbashi claimed that African nations needed to take ownership of such initiatives and commit investment and suitable funds for battery technology development.
“In terms of batteries, Africa needs to set standards.
“We must concentrate on the construction of these batteries, the mining of minerals, and recycling.”
Nonetheless, Mr. Rabani Adamou asserted that in order to encourage the growth of mineral value chains, African nations must invest in research and development to comprehend the amount of minerals that may be exploited.
Adamou is the director of Abdou Moumouni University’s West African Scientific Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Use.
Additionally, he stated that in order to reap the full benefits of the minerals, Africa needed to invest in capacity building and training.
He discussed the necessity for encouraging policies that would draw in investment while also thwarting corruption, which was a hindrance to African economic initiatives.
The battery and electric vehicle project, according to Ms. Marit Kitaw, Interim Director of the African Minerals Development Centre, a specialized institution of the African Union, represents a major opportunity for Africa.
Kitaw added that the project had sparked a boom in green mineral investment into Africa.
She stated that the center was working on creating a mining strategy for Africa and urged institutionalizing the project and utilizing creative finance to make it a reality.