Program
Africa
Africa’s Natural Resources in the Global Energy Transition

Many African countries are endowed with significant reserves of the minerals and metals necessary to the global energy transition. While these endowments represent the potential for significant economic windfalls, they also place African countries at the center of geoeconomic competition as great powers seek to secure the supply chains necessary for their own economic and national security.

Our work on Africa’s Natural Resources in the Global Energy Transition provides insights into how African countries can harness the opportunities and minimize the risks of this surging global interest in their mineral endowments to advance their economic development objectives. This is achieved through a three-pronged approach, focusing on: (1) mutually beneficial trade relations towards the integration of African mineral producers into the emerging supply chains of North America, Europe, and Asia, (2) fostering an investment ecosystem to support processing, refining, and value addition in service of both industrialization within African countries and the strategic priorities of advanced economies, and (3) the emerging standards governing the new scramble for these transition minerals to ensure long-term integrity by mitigating risks associated with environmental and social disruption, and facilitating domestic skills development.

In The Media
in the media
Africa’s Petrostates Are Missing Out on the Oil Boom — and It Matters

Climate activists might celebrate the contraction in production but countries need to finance their energy transitions.

· August 28, 2024
The Financial Times
commentary
Maximizing the Benefits of the Renewed Global Interest in Africa’s Strategic Minerals

Key insights from a peer-learning negotiation workshop.

· August 15, 2024
commentary
How the AGOA Reauthorization Process Could Help Diversify U.S. Critical Mineral Supplies

The ongoing African Growth and Opportunity Act reauthorization process could facilitate the expansion of U.S.-Africa trade in critical minerals.

· April 30, 2024