Leveraging Transparency to De-risk Mining Investment and Mobilize Revenue in Africa (Mining Indaba)

Global demand for critical minerals is accelerating rapidly, driven, among other factors, by the energy transition and digitalization. Despite Africa’s significant mineral endowment, foreign direct investment (FDI) into mining projects, processing capacity, and enabling infrastructure continues to fall short of what is needed to meet projected demand and contribute to sustainable development in producing countries.

This investment gap is driven by a combination of governance risks, policy and political uncertainty, infrastructure deficits, and fiscal instability, among other factors. As a result, the 2025 World Investment Report by UNCTAD shows that mining-related foreign direct investment remains highly volatile and increasingly concentrated in a small number of jurisdictions. African nations face significant challenges in attracting FDI, as many are perceived as less attractive destinations for investment. Large-scale capital commitments are being delayed or redirected in response to regulatory uncertainty and geopolitical risk.

In this context, transparency is an indispensable building block. Existing instruments such as the EITI have the potential to address key constraints, strengthen governance, and lay the foundations for the investment required across mining, processing, and enabling infrastructure.

At the same time, mineral-rich African countries face growing local expectations to mobilize domestic revenues from a mineral boom. Rising public debt levels, fiscal pressures, and development financing needs have increased citizens’ demand for mining investment to translate into predictable, sustainable domestic resource mobilization (DRM). From increased equity participation through state-owned enterprises and special purpose vehicles to more proactive tax compliance efforts, governments are adopting innovative and assertive approaches to increase fiscal returns.

This high-level session, co-hosted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), will examine how transparency, as part of broader good governance, can serve as a strategic enabler of sustainable investment and robust revenue mobilization.