Africa Minerals Strategy Group joins the Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South

New York, 26 September. Alongside the UN General Assembly, the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) announced that it will be joining the Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South, an initiative of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis and Swaniti Global. The announcement was made at a high-level roundtable on ‘Strengthening Local Value Chains for Energy Transition Solutions in the Global South’ during the SDG7 Action Forum.

The partnership aims to strengthen African governments efforts to leverage their critical mineral resources to build local value chains for energy transition technologies, thereby creating jobs and supporting industrialization. Africa possesses significant reserves of the minerals that are essential for batteries, electric vehicles and other energy transition technologies that underpin the regional and global energy transition.

The Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) is an intergovernmental body established to facilitate international cooperation in the minerals and mining sector among member African nations and to work closely with strategic partners to harness the potential of Africa’s vast mineral reserves for mutual benefit. The 16 AMSG Founding Member Nations include Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South, supported by SEforALL, the Institute of Transportation Studies at University of California, Davis and Swaniti Global, is a first-of-its-kind Global South-led platform on critical minerals for energy transitions. The platform will bring together governments and other partners into a unique collaborative partnership to ensure the development of an equitable minerals value chain and access to clean technologies for securing their own energy transitions.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of the launch of the report of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals which acknowledges, as key principles, the importance of benefit sharing, value addition and economic diversification as well as multilateral and international cooperation. This partnership between the AMSG and the Council aims to serve as a key conduit for delivering the actions and support for developing countries, particularly on the African continent, to advance on the principles and recommendations.

AMSG and the Council will work collaboratively to deliver state-of-the-art data and analytics, strengthen capacity building efforts, facilitate partnerships and collaboration, and amplify the voices and priorities of the Global South on international and regional fora, including COP and G20, in relation to building just and inclusive supply chains and equitable benefits sharing, particularly for local communities.

Supporting Quotes

“There is no chance of making the energy transition without Africa. Africa’s vast, largely unexplored, and untapped reserves of significant mineral wealth are essential for the transition from natural gas to renewable energy materials. This makes Africa critical and indispensable in the race to secure the supplies needed to achieve decarbonisation and meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies. However, the current supply dynamics need re-evaluating to ensure Africa maximizes its potential in the transition. This is why the Africa Minerals Strategy Group is pleased to join the Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South and to work towards our collective goal of fostering collaboration, building strategic partnerships, and promoting local value addition aligned with the priorities of our Member States.”

H.E. Moses Micheal Engadu, Secretary General, Africa Minerals Strategy Group

“To fully harness the economic opportunities, it is imperative that the Global South play a central role in the global supply chain of critical minerals and energy transition technologies to leverage job creation and a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous future.  I am pleased that the Africa Minerals Strategy Group has joined the Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South. The partnership will significantly strengthen our support to governments in mobilizing the investments, partnerships and capacity necessary to meet local value chain development ambitions.”

Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, and Co-Chair of UN-Energy

"Critical minerals are key ingredients of the new green economy. Securing critical mineral supply chains for the Global South is important not only for economic development in these countries but is also key for meeting global climate targets. We are delighted to welcome the Africa Minerals Strategy Group to the Council and look forward to working closely with the Secretary-General and the Secretariat to build an agenda that truly advances the energy transition priorities of Global South countries."

Dr. Sandeep Pai, Director, Swaniti Global

“The Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South sets the foundation for a unique multilateral partnership framework of how Global South countries can collaborate to ensure equitable mineral value chains as well as access to clean technologies for securing their own energy transitions. We welcome the Africa Minerals Strategy Group to the Council and look forward to working collaboratively to provide technical support to developing countries to enable a more equitable and fair participation in global value chains.”

Dr. Aditya Ramji, Director, Global South Clean Transportation Centre, UC Davis

Media contacts

Sherry Kennedy:  Sherry.Kennedy@SEforALL.org  |  +43 676 846 727 237

Patrick Mulindwa: patrick.mulindwa@africamineralsgroup.org | +256 755 140 292

About the Africa Minerals Strategy Group

The Africa Minerals Strategy Group was established by African Governments to facilitate International cooperation in the minerals and mining sector among member African nations with the goal of promoting exploration, extraction, production, local beneficiation and commercialization to ensure a sustainable, transparent and secure supply of critical minerals while protecting our environment and improving the quality of life of our population, to spur socio-economic transformation and prosperity of Africa, and support the energy transition. The AMSG Founding Member Nations include Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Find out more at https://africamineralsgroup.org/

About the Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South

The Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South is a platform to facilitate south-south and international exchange in support of developing countries’ ambitions to leverage critical minerals resources to develop local value chains, as well as secure technologies access for energy transition. The government-led platform activities cut across pillars including data and analytics, collaboration and partnerships, as well as capacity building.  

Find out more at www.transitionmineralscouncil.org/

About Sustainable Energy for All

Sustainable Energy for All is an independent organization with a global mandate, working at the nexus of energy, climate, and development. We collaborate with governments and partners worldwide to end energy poverty and combat climate change.

Our vision is a world where everyone, everywhere, can lead a dignified life on a healthy planet, powered by sustainable energy. We promote this vision by pushing for higher ambitions, stronger policies, greater finance and faster results toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7)—access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030.

Find out more at www.seforall.org

About the Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis

The India and Global South Centre of the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), University of California, Davis, was launched at the Clean Energy Ministerial at Pittsburgh in 2022 becoming the first India-dedicated Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) research centre aimed at promoting ZEV uptake in the country while ensuring India’s emergence as a strategic leader in the global ZEV transition.

The centre, jointly with Indian institutional partners, works with stakeholders and policymakers in designing ZEV transition approaches and provides a platform for discussion in implementing the transition through analytical reports, workshops, and policy briefings.

The centre through the larger ITS ecosystem aims to provide Indian policymakers with information and tools on global trends in transport decarbonization, while simultaneously taking successful Indian approaches to other countries.

Find out more at https://its.ucdavis.edu/

About Swaniti Global

Swaniti Global is a non-profit working towards building an ecosystem to enable an inclusive future in a climate-constrained world. Swaniti works actively with legislators, policymakers, industry leaders, and civil society partners to transition countries towards a responsible green future.

Find out more at www.swaniti.com