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.