Digging Deeper: Embedding Minerals Sovereignty in Africa’s Mining Value Chains

The document examines systemic barriers in Africa's mining sector, including tax avoidance, high borrowing costs, and technological monopolies. It proposes a 'resource leverage strategy' to exchange mineral access for technology transfer and local beneficiation, while advocating for the adoption of African-led financial frameworks like the African Continental Ratings Agency (AfCRA) and AMREC-PARC to foster economic independence.

• African governments lose between $450 million and $730 million in annual mining tax revenues due to tax avoidance and profit shifting, which primarily benefits multinational corporations and foreign investors.
• Subjective methodologies used by credit rating agencies (CRAs) result in inflated risk premiums that cost African governments nearly $75 billion annually in borrowing costs.
• The document proposes a 'resource leverage strategy' where African nations use their critical mineral reserves as bargaining tools to secure technology transfer, local manufacturing facilities, and infrastructure investment from global powers.
• Technological monopolies, particularly China's dominance in gallium production and cobalt mining in the DRC, relegate African countries to low-margin roles as raw material exporters.
• The adoption of the African Minerals and Energy Resources Classification and Management System (AMREC) and the Pan-African Resource Reporting Code (PARC) is intended to strengthen African capital markets and reduce dependence on external exchanges like the London Metal Exchange.

APA

JENTEL, L., & CLOETE, D. (2025). Digging Deeper: Embedding Minerals Sovereignty in Africa’s Mining Value Chains. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/PI-161-FP-Jentel-Cloete-CORRECTED-VERSION.pdf

Chicago

JENTEL, LETITIA, and DEON CLOETE. Digging Deeper: Embedding Minerals Sovereignty in Africa’s Mining Value Chains. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2025. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/PI-161-FP-Jentel-Cloete-CORRECTED-VERSION.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=JENTEL |first1=LETITIA |last2=CLOETE |first2=DEON |title=Digging Deeper: Embedding Minerals Sovereignty in Africa’s Mining Value Chains |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=February 2025 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/PI-161-FP-Jentel-Cloete-CORRECTED-VERSION.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jentel2025digging, author = {JENTEL, LETITIA and CLOETE, DEON}, title = {{Digging Deeper: Embedding Minerals Sovereignty in Africa’s Mining Value Chains}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/PI-161-FP-Jentel-Cloete-CORRECTED-VERSION.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }