Southern Africa holds significant reserves of critical minerals useful in the EV battery supply chain — including cobalt, copper, lithium, graphite, manganese, and nickel — that are essential for the global clean energy transition. However, the region gets little benefit from their vast mineral reserves, as most of their raw minerals are extracted and exported to other countries without much processing. New research from the Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) programme shows that by processing more of these minerals to higher valued products (in the EV battery supply chain) within the region, countries could increase export revenues and capture more economic value, rather than mainly exporting raw materials.
The study also balances the finding by suggesting that a regional approach to processing would increase demand for energy and transport infrastructure and roughly double environmental impacts compared with current practices.
Manganese mining in South Africa
Among the team of researchers involved in the CCG programme were Dr Raghav Pant, Senior Researcher, and Dr Samira Barzin, Geospatial Economic Analyst, at the Environmental Change Institute (ECI), along with Prof Jim Hall, Professor of Climate and Environmental Risk at the ECI and Director of the ECI’s Oxford Programme for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (OPSIS). The team contributed to data analysis, software, investigation, visualisation, and drafting the report.
Dr Raghav Pant said:
This is a first-of-its-kind study that integrates detailed spatial data and models to quantify benefits, costs and underlying environmental constrains associated with critical mineral supply chains. Given the importance of critical minerals in the energy transition a study like this helps countries in Africa understand where and how they cooperate to get more leverage from their position in the critical mineral supply chain."
The findings are detailed in the CCG policy brief: Beyond Extraction: Simulating Increased Battery Mineral Value Addition in Southern Africa which was presented at the African Mining Indaba in Cape Town (9-12 February).
Read the CCG announcement and the full policy brief: Beyond Extraction: Simulating Increased Battery Mineral Value Addition in Southern Africa