Mapping Africa’s Green Mineral Partnerships

The report maps nearly one hundred agreements on critical minerals between African states and global actors, highlighting the strategic competition for resources. It identifies a lack of transparency in these deals and notes that while China and Russia are prominent, other actors like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are expanding their footprints. The analysis emphasizes that these partnerships often reflect broader geopolitical and historical ties rather than just economic needs.

• Many state-to-state mineral agreements are characterized by a lack of transparency and public accessibility, often containing "vague and cryptic provisions" and remaining non-binding.
• Global actors employ diverse strategies to secure minerals: some prioritize direct state cooperation and funding, while others focus on creating an "enabling environment for private sector investment."
• China maintains a dominant position in African critical mineral supply chains through a high-risk appetite and an integrated approach, including "infrastructure-for-resources" deals under the Belt and Road Initiative.
• Russia utilizes a unique value proposition by offering mining expertise and "security provision for mining concessions" via the Africa Corps (formerly the Wagner Group) to gain resource access.
• The European Union's strategy focuses on diversifying suppliers through raw materials partnerships based on five main pillars, including the Global Gateway initiative to counter China.
• The United States prioritizes expanding domestic production and utilizes multilateral frameworks like the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) and the Energy Resource Governance Initiative to reduce reliance on China.
• Emerging actors like Saudi Arabia and the UAE are diversifying their economies; Saudi Arabia aims to be a "hub of innovation" in a minerals "super-region," while the UAE focuses on "dual-use minerals" for defense.
• Turkey's mineral partnerships in Africa are closely linked to its expanded security and military cooperation and are concentrated in Northern, Western, Eastern, and the Horn of Africa.
• India seeks to reduce its high reliance on China for critical minerals through bilateral partnerships with nine African states, many of which are Commonwealth members.
• African states are not passive participants; they actively shape agreements and may strategically reject initiatives to align with "national and regional interests."

APA

Beuter, P. (2025). Mapping Africa’s Green Mineral Partnerships. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/mapping-africas-green-mineral-partnerships

Chicago

Beuter, Pia. Mapping Africa’s Green Mineral Partnerships. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2025. https://afripoli.org/mapping-africas-green-mineral-partnerships.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Beuter |first1=Pia |title=Mapping Africa’s Green Mineral Partnerships |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=20 January 2025 |url=https://afripoli.org/mapping-africas-green-mineral-partnerships |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{beuter2025mapping, author = {Beuter, Pia}, title = {{Mapping Africa’s Green Mineral Partnerships}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://afripoli.org/mapping-africas-green-mineral-partnerships}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }