Editor’s Note
This article examines a pivotal shift in Africa’s approach to natural resource management. Driven by climate imperatives and geopolitical dynamics, nations are increasingly seeking to capture greater value and assert control over their critical energy supplies and minerals.
African nations are rethinking how value is captured from the energy supplies and minerals contained within their borders. Climate pressure, energy transition demands, and geopolitical competitions are driving opportunities to exert greater control over natural resources and ensure higher financial returns for finite mineral resources.
For decades, African policymakers have put forward the prospect of a continental interest group to control the pricing of natural resources coming out of Africa, following the example of oil-producing countries who determine world oil prices through the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The main obstacle to the acceptance of such a body has been the fear of loss of national sovereignty over countries’ most valuable economic assets.
Now, greater control over the financial rewards of resource exploitation is being realized but on an individual country basis. Resources under consideration go beyond what is produced in mines and include energy products. 2025 saw a wave of national laws passed by African parliaments and endorsed by the continent’s leaders, and it was also a prodigious year for treaties with foreign powers who once controlled the value of Africa’s natural resources and determined prices.
Creating a collection of best practices from laws governing extractives, African nations are securing better prices for natural resources by means like placing bans on the exportation of raw exports, mandating local processing of ores, and revising mining contracts with foreign firms to increase state ownership. This is being done at a time when the seller has the upper hand. High global demand for critical minerals like cobalt, copper, and lithium allows their owners greater leverage in negotiations.
Coupled with contract reform, nations are also seeking to create local, sustainable value chains to develop value-added industries. Governments are eager to expand their industrial sectors by utilizing local national resources. Infrastructure, tax credits for start-up firms, and contracting expertise for skills transfer to local entrepreneurs are all essential.
This should not suggest that regional and continental bodies cannot assist with national goals. The African Continental Free Trade Area can be utilized to harmonize policies and create stronger bargaining positions. Another example of how multi-lateral policy is assisting signatory countries can be seen in the way African Union member states have created the Africa Mining Vision as an action plan to guide regulations and innovations aimed at closing the gap between Africa’s mining wealth and pervasive poverty, which could be mitigated through such resources. Another example is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which seeks global standards in transparency for mining sectors, is being implemented by Ghana, Niger, and Nigeria to ensure better reporting of contracts and revenue, reducing corruption and improving profitability.
In the energy sector, the trend towards maximizing financial returns for resource-exporting countries is being managed through new or renegotiated agreements with foreign buyers. Local content requirements figure prominently in these new agreements. Guided by national laws, firms harvesting natural resources are required to employ local workers, use local suppliers, and if partnerships in a company are sought or equities in a company are listed on a stock exchange, opportunities to buy or get involved must be made available to local investors. This same emphasis is applied by nations seeking to develop value-added industries they deem worthy of promoting for national economic growth by utilizing sovereign wealth funds to finance long-term development projects.
Creating a new resources paradigm that maximizes benefits for African host countries will require national legislation to enforce these policies. When national laws are enacted to enforce resource‑governance policies, they can fundamentally reshape how resources are managed. Zambia offers an example.
Several Zambian ‘mine-to-market’ companies now mine, cut, polish, and produce amethyst jewellery, including Jagoda Gems, Jewel of Africa, Mutinta Jewellery, Mwezi Blu, and Virtu Gem. These firms are aided by the 2025 law the Local Content Statutory Instrument, which mandates domestic processing of raw material before they are exported.
On the other hand, countries like Zimbabwe have neglected this important legislative step. In the expectation that local companies will create value from raw minerals, some countries have frozen the export of unprocessed resources. This has been applied particularly to rare earth elements and minerals, such as cobalt and lithium, which are in high demand for electronics manufacturing. However, these export freezes have been imposed without the legislative framework needed to support the growth of value-added industries.
