Cape Town, South Africa, February 5, 2025: – Africa must take bold actions to harness its resources, create jobs, and build industries that will ensure prosperity for future generations, stated the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to African leaders, policymakers, mining industry leaders, and global partners at the African Mining Indaba 2025 held in Cape Town, South Africa, this past Sunday.
In a keynote address delivered during the Indaba’s ministerial symposium, Mr. Denys Denya, Executive Vice President of Afreximbank, argued that the continent is at a crossroads and can either continue to export its wealth and remain a marginal player in the global economy or take bold steps to take ownership of its resources.
He noted, “While the global mining industry generated around $1.7 trillion in revenue in 2023, Africa’s share of this wealth remains disproportionately low.” He added, “Our continent extracts the raw materials that fuel global industries, but it is estimated that we retain as little as between 4% and 20% of the total value of our minerals due to minimal local processing and limited downstream development. The consequence? Loss of economic opportunities, exposure to volatile commodity cycles, and persistent reliance on foreign markets for refined products derived from our own resources.” “The choice is ours. The time to act is now. Governments, financial institutions, investors, and industry players must work together to build an Africa where mining is not just about extraction, but also about transformation, innovation, and wealth creation,” said Mr. Denya. “Africa has the resources, commercial potential, and strategic frameworks needed to transition from a resource-dependent continent to an industrial powerhouse. However, success will depend on bold and decisive action from all stakeholders. Policymakers must implement clear and enforceable regulations that mandate value addition and create investment-friendly environments. Private sector investors must increase their capital and technology to develop processing, refining, and manufacturing facilities.”
Reversing this trend required bold and coordinated action, he emphasized. “We need to move beyond extraction and invest in refining, smelting, and advanced manufacturing. African countries must increase their local processing capacity for minerals such as bauxite, lithium, cobalt, and iron ore.”
He added that regional collaboration is essential, as no country can build a mining value chain in isolation.
Mr. Denya highlighted the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in developing intra-African mineral value chains and strengthening cross-border collaboration, adding that attracting capital for mining-related infrastructure, technology transfer, and skills development is essential.
“Our mining policies must also prioritize environmental, social, and governance standards, ensuring that mining benefits communities rather than displacing them,” he said, adding that this approach would create millions of skilled jobs for young people and reduce reliance on volatile global markets while strengthening intra-African trade.
Reiterating Afreximbank’s commitment to supporting the African mining sector and ensuring that mineral wealth drives economic growth rather than perpetuating dependence on resources, Mr. Denya announced that over the past three years, the Bank had approved over $1 billion to support mining and mineral sector projects across the continent, including funding the development and construction of a bauxite processing plant in Guinea, supporting the expansion of a manganese processing plant in Gabon, and financing the working capital of a diamond company in Botswana.
Among other major projects supported by the Bank are a petrochemical fertilizer plant in Angola, a titanium dioxide pigment plant in South Africa, and a feasibility study for a limestone processing plant in Malawi, he added.
Mr. Denya also stated that the establishment of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund of $10 billion, managed by FEDA, Afreximbank’s impact investment subsidiary, would provide crucial financial support to countries and businesses transitioning to the new trading regime, including those in the mining sector. He added that the Bank’s efforts to harmonize standards and implement the African Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme would also facilitate smooth movement of minerals and mining equipment across borders, reducing logistical bottlenecks.
Afreximbank is also leveraging digital platforms, such as the Africa Trade Gateway and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, to enable efficient transactions and market access, ensuring that Africa’s vast mineral wealth is used to drive industrialization, value addition, and economic resilience across the continent, he concluded.
Mr. Denya further emphasized that Afreximbank, in partnership with development partners, is leading the development and expansion of industrial parks and special economic zones (SEZs) to address infrastructure challenges hindering industrial growth.
One of the most transformative initiatives under this pillar has been the Electric Vehicle Battery Manufacturing Special Economic Zones in the DRC and Zambia – a project positioning Africa at the heart of the global energy transition through pioneering battery SEZs, making both countries competitive global investment destinations for the electric vehicle battery value chain.
The African Mining Indaba 2025, held from February 3 to 6, is the first gathering where African decision-makers, industry leaders, and global partners are working to shape the future of Africa’s mining sector.
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a pan-African multilateral financial institution dedicated to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. For 30 years, Afreximbank has deployed innovative structures to provide financing solutions that transform Africa’s trade landscape and accelerate industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby supporting economic expansion in Africa. A staunch advocate of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, Afreximbank launched the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to support AfCFTA implementation. In collaboration with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank established a $10 billion Adjustment Fund to help countries effectively participate in AfCFTA. As of December 2023, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at approximately $37.3 billion, and its shareholders’ funds were $6.1 billion. Afreximbank is rated A by GCR International Scale, Baa1 by Moody’s, A- by Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR), and BBB by Fitch. Over the years, Afreximbank has grown into a group comprising the Bank, its impact investment subsidiary, the Export Development Fund for Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure (the three entities form “the Group”). The Bank’s headquarters is in Cairo, Egypt.
