The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria and Zimbabwe announced major initiatives to accelerate local mineral processing and reduce dependence on raw exports during the Ministerial Forum at African Mining Week 2025 in Cape Town on Thursday.
The three countries outlined national strategies aimed at driving beneficiation, creating jobs and stimulating industrial growth – marking a shift toward value addition across Africa’s mining sector.
DRC Mines Minister Louis Watum Kabamba said the country is prioritising special economic zones to attract investment and streamline fiscal procedures.
“We have a one stop shop removing complications of fiscals and make it easier for industry participation to put capital and technology to drive the beneficiation agenda,” Kabamba said.
He also highlighted plans to deploy artificial intelligence to enhance exploration and production, particularly in lithium and copper.
“We want to use advanced technology to unlock lithium potential. We are also second to Chile in copper production and we want to be first.”
Zimbabwe’s Mines Minister Winston Chitando announced that a new base metal refinery will be commissioned within two years, leveraging the country’s position as home to the world’s second-largest platinum reserves.
He said three industrial parks are under development in Hwange, Beitbridge and near Harare to support downstream processing.
“We want value addition making economic sense. Exporting ore all the way to the port and ship them to international does not make economic sense since we are a landlocked country,” Chitando said.
Nigeria’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines, Yusuf Farouk Yabo said the country aims to build a $1 billion mining economy by 2030.
“We need leadership, institutions and the right policies hence we are revamping the Mining Act of 2011 to ensure the needs of the private sector are catered for,” stated Yabo.
Nigeria is also investing in digitizing its mining processes, from data accessibility and mineral traceability.
“We want to ensure traceability from mining to monetization, with Nigerian minerals set to come from two sources: license holders or a seller and supplier buying from ASM players who are traced and formalised.”
JN/APA