Regionalizing African Mineral Value Chains: Requirements for Success

African governments have long sought to add more value to their mineral resources to increase revenues, create jobs and drive broader economic development. As global demand for minerals rises, these ambitions have grown. Yet access to mineral deposits alone is not enough to make value addition feasible. Many countries face major obstacles, including insufficient production volumes, infrastructure gaps, limited industrial capacity and small domestic markets for end products. 

Regional cooperation offers a promising solution. By working together, countries could pool mineral supplies for shared processing, develop cross-border infrastructure, specialize in different stages of value chains and expand downstream markets. In doing so, governments would make mineral-based industries across Africa more viable and competitive.  

However, regional cooperation is challenging to implement. Efforts to cooperate around Africa’s minerals are not new. While the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and recent adoption of the African Green Minerals Strategy have raised hopes that meaningful cooperation can now be achieved, establishing regional mineral value chains will require overcoming numerous political, economic and technical obstacles at both national and regional levels.  

We have identified lessons from existing regional initiatives—both within and beyond Africa, and in minerals and other sectors—on how to overcome these challenges, drawing on available literature and expert interviews. This report outlines six ways that regional and national policymakers can improve the chances of establishing regional mineral value chains. 

Start small and targeted. Broader, top-down regional integration efforts—such as Regional Economic Communities industrialization strategies and the AfCFTA—can enable regional mineral value chains. However, progress is more likely if combined with a bottom-up approach that builds coalitions of willing governments around specific opportunities. Starting small increases the chances of aligning national interests, while targeting particular value chains—and specific segments within them, allowing policymakers to focus limited political capital, time and resources where they will have the greatest impact. As trust and technical capacity grow, and proof of concept is established, cooperation can expand and deepen over time. 

Transparently engage the private sector. Because regional mineral value chains rely on commercial decisions, private sector engagement is essential to identify viable opportunities, determine the market failures preventing their realization and align policies with market realities. While such engagement has often been lacking, initiatives like AfCFTA’s working groups offer a promising model. However, strong integrity safeguards—such as transparency, civil society participation and independent oversight—are critical to avoid corruption and ensure accountable policymaking. 

Share the benefits between countries. Overly prescriptive approaches to distributing value chain activities risk undermining commercial viability and reducing overall gains. Yet, ensuring benefits are shared among participating countries is essential to addressing both the perception and reality that some gain more than others. The African Green Minerals Strategy has proposed several mechanisms to support this, including a value chain investment fund that could channel investment to less-developed countries and—if well designed—incentivize cooperation on regional processing facilities. A complementary approach would be for more-developed countries, such as South Africa, to take a leadership role by actively promoting activities and fostering buy-in in less-developed countries. 

Strengthen the capacity of regional institutions. Political economy dynamics have led most governments to prioritize projects they see as explicitly serving national interests. This makes the role of regional institutions critical in advocating for the benefits of regional value chains, and in designing and supporting implementation of effective strategies and projects. To play this role effectively, these institutions need stronger mandates, greater technical capacity and expanded budgets. Dynamic research and planning functions are especially vital to drive informed and opportunistic policymaking. 

Harness external support while ensuring African ownership. Africa’s institutions and initiatives need external support to advance regional mineral value chains. However, strong African leadership is essential to ensure alignment with continental priorities and sustained engagement with regional and national actors. External partners should prioritize building institutional capacity and supporting African-led initiatives like the African Green Minerals Strategy while ensuring their country-level engagements do not undermine regional opportunities. African policymakers could improve their chances of securing such support by explicitly linking it to partners’ interests—for instance, by offering access to the outputs of the regional projects they support. 

Foster public support. Public support is crucial for lasting regional cooperation, as it strengthens both short-term political backing and long-term government commitment, even through shifting political conditions. To build trust and secure buy-in, policymakers should be transparent about project details and actively engage diverse stakeholders, including affected communities, local businesses, organized labor and civil society. Broad public outreach can help communicate the benefits and strengthen overall support.