South Africa’s (SA) Department of Mineral Resources has called on African countries to urgently strengthen regional co-operation to ensure the continent’s mineral wealth is processed locally rather than exported as raw material.
Speaking on the sidelines of the recently concluded Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town, Director-General Jacob Mbele pointed out that local mineral processing, known as beneficiation, remains absolutely central to Africa’s broader industrialisation agenda.
However, Mbele noted that persistent challenges, particularly severe energy constraints and infrastructure gaps across the continent, continue to slow down progress. He stressed that overcoming these bottlenecks through shared regional strategies is vital for Africa to successfully move up the global value chain.
–ChannelAfrica–
