Africa-Press – Kenya. Africa has US$29.5 trillion in mineral reserves, around 20% of the global total, but US$8.6 trillion remains untapped, according to a report by the African Finance Corporation (AFC) released yesterday.
“Africa hosts one of the world’s most diversified and strategically significant mineral endowments, with an estimated US$29.5 trillion in mine-site value – approximately 20% of the global total,” reads the inaugural Compendium of Africa’s Strategic Minerals 2026, published yesterday by the AFC, which focuses on boosting strategic investments in infrastructure and industry and is a key player in the Lobito Corridor in Angola.
Of the total US$29.5 trillion, “US$8.6 trillion remains undeveloped, equivalent to roughly 2.5 times the continent’s annual GDP (Gross Domestic Product),” the AFC reveals, lamenting that countries capture only a small fraction of the value of the resources that belong to them.
The report explains that the core issue is the transformation of raw materials into value-added products, that is, “capacity to translate mineral wealth into productive assets, infrastructure, industrial capacity, regional value chains, and competitive manufacturing platforms.”
As an example, the report highlights the value of converting iron ore into steel, stating: “Africa’s US$2.8 trillion in iron ore at the mine gate translates into an estimated US$25.4 trillion in steel value.”
Processing is defined as fundamental for the continent to claim the full value of its resources.
“Until now, these gains have remained largely unrealised because Africa is locked into a system of structural misalignment. Across the continent, the three anchors of mineral project viability – resource endowment, enabling infrastructure (particularly power and transport), and demand – rarely co-locate,” the report points out.
The Compendium aims to demonstrate the need for a structural shift in the way countries view their resources, arguing that “improved regional planning and a more integrated approach to Africa’s mineral development” are required.
Thus, rather than focusing solely on externally defined “critical minerals” lists for the energy transition, the document emphasises “infrastructure development, industrialisation, energy systems, food security, and manufacturing resilience.” From this perspective, it adds, “iron ore, ferro-alloys, and mineral fertilisers – particularly potash and phosphates – are as, if not more, strategically consequential for Africa’s transformation as energy-transition minerals.”
