Africa’s Path to Sustainable Growth: Critical Minerals and Trade Policy?

Highlights

• ECA hosts an expert meeting to discuss leveraging Africa’s critical mineral resources for sustainable economic development
• Participants explore strategies to maximize benefits from global mineral demand through trade policy and regional collaboration.
• The meeting aims to position Africa as a key player in global supply chains while ensuring inclusive growth for the continent.

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The Economic Commission for Africa (opens in a new tab) (ECA) is hosting an Expert Group Meeting in Addis Ababa to discuss how Africa can leverage its vast critical mineral resources for sustainable industrialization and economic transformation. The meeting focuses on the role of trade policy and regional integration initiatives, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA (opens in a new tab)) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), in ensuring that the rising global demand for Africa’s minerals—key to renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital transformation—translates into long-term benefits for the continent.

Participants, including policymakers, researchers, and industry experts, are exploring how Africa can collectively navigate the current scramble for its resources, protect its interests, and use trade policy to foster industrialization and economic diversification. Key discussions address past challenges in resource management, Africa’s readiness to capitalize on its resources, and the enabling factors and barriers to regional collaboration.

The meeting’s outcomes aim to foster stakeholder collaboration to ensure Africa’s critical minerals drive resilient, inclusive growth, leaving a lasting developmental legacy for its citizens while positioning the continent as a key player in global supply chains.

See the recent announcemen (opens in a new tab)t.