Annoh-Dompreh Pushes For Value Addition To Africa’s Critical Minerals

The Chairman of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Committee on Trade, Customs and Immigration, Mr. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has called on African leaders to adopt a coordinated strategy that ensures the continent derives greater economic value from its vast critical mineral resources instead of continuing to export raw materials.

According to the Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Africa’s abundant deposits of critical minerals, strategic environmental assets and expanding continental trade architecture should become catalysts for industrialisation, job creation and shared prosperity.

Mr. Annoh-Dompreh made the call during a high-level working lunch between the Pan-African Parliament and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), where participants examined South Africa’s G20 Presidency, Africa’s position in the evolving global economic order and issues relating to international trade, debt, climate finance and BRICS.

While commending the policy briefing, he argued that Africa had spent years articulating its aspirations within the global system, but the continent must now shift its focus towards implementing policies that deliver measurable benefits for its people.

Value Addition

Mr. Annoh-Dompreh said Africa’s enormous reserves of critical minerals, which are increasingly essential to the global clean energy transition, should provide the continent with significant bargaining power.

He, however, questioned whether African countries had developed a common strategy for the extraction, processing and commercialisation of these resources.

Without such coordination, he warned, Africa risks remaining trapped in the long-standing cycle of exporting raw minerals while foreign economies undertake refining, manufacturing and technology production, thereby capturing the bulk of the economic value.

He stressed that mineral wealth should be used to establish industries, create employment and strengthen Africa’s participation in global value chains rather than merely increasing exports of unprocessed resources.

Responding, Ms. Jordan McLean of Southern Transitions said the African Green Minerals Strategy and the African Minerals Development Centre provide a strong foundation for a coordinated continental approach.

She noted that Africa possesses about 30 per cent of the world’s key mineral reserves, placing the continent in a stronger position to negotiate beneficial partnerships, promote domestic value addition and participate across the minerals value chain.

Ms. McLean cautioned, however, that the growing international interest in Africa’s mineral resources extends beyond the global energy transition, as many countries are also seeking to secure long-term access to strategic raw materials.

Climate Finance

Mr. Annoh-Dompreh also questioned the fairness of the global climate finance architecture, pointing to the failure of developed countries to fully honour financial commitments made to developing nations.

He argued that while industrialised economies achieved their development through carbon-intensive activities, African countries are now being encouraged to industrialise using cleaner energy sources despite limited financial and technological support.

“The developed world industrialised through pollution at a time when there was no comparable international climate regime. Africa is now moving towards industrialisation, but the global message is that we must rely on renewable and clean energy,” he observed.

He maintained that although Africa supports renewable energy, questions remain over whether current financing arrangements, available technologies and electricity generation capacity are sufficient to drive the continent’s industrial transformation.

Ms. McLean said climate finance should prioritise adaptation, resilience and equity, noting that African countries remain among the most vulnerable to climate change despite contributing relatively little to historical global greenhouse gas emissions.

She highlighted climate adaptation initiatives promoted under South Africa’s G20 Presidency, including investments in resilient infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture and protection for vulnerable communities.

Carbon Markets

Mr. Annoh-Dompreh also expressed concern over the credibility and transparency of carbon credit schemes operating across Africa.

While acknowledging the continent’s potential to benefit from international carbon markets because of its forests and relatively low emissions, he said common continental standards were needed to safeguard communities and ensure revenues generated from carbon projects contribute meaningfully to national development.

He warned that without proper safeguards, carbon markets could replicate the same extractive relationships that have characterised Africa’s mineral sector for decades.

The Ghanaian legislator further challenged African governments over the slow pace of implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), saying the agreement’s benefits are yet to be widely felt by ordinary citizens.

Although AfCFTA remains one of the world’s largest free trade arrangements, he argued that governments must move beyond policy declarations and accelerate practical measures that boost intra-African trade, industrialisation and economic integration.

Mr. Annoh-Dompreh maintained that stronger implementation of AfCFTA, coupled with value addition to Africa’s mineral resources and equitable climate financing, would place the continent in a stronger position to achieve sustainable economic transformation and shared prosperity.

 

 

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