Mzansi to host African Critical Minerals Summit

South Africa will host its first-ever African Critical Minerals Summit later this year.

The summit is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg on November 6 and 7. It will be hosted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), and President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to open the global gathering.

South Africa’s government will welcome over 2 000 delegations from around the world, including the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, BRICS and G20 countries.

The DMRE minister, Gwede Mantashe, is expected to discuss critical minerals strategy and planning with global mining and energy CEOs as well as fellow ministers from the Southern African Development Community and around Africa. The official launch of the African Critical Minerals Summit took place on Friday in Johannesburg, following the South Africa Investment Conference. At the conference, Ramaphosa said South Africa had attracted R1.51t in investment pledges from businesses since 2018.

He set a target of R2t in investment over the coming five years. The summit takes place as South Africa asserts a continental leadership role, based on its just energy transition framework policy, its mineral resources endowment, and its manufacturing and services capacity. The African Critical Minerals Summit unites key producers and users of the mineral resources that underpin modern technologies, supply chains and energy production, with special focus on the energy transition.

The summit aims to create opportunities across the African continent by attracting diverse investment partners to African mining and energy transition projects. It aims on processing and manufacturing products using critical mineral resources in Africa and creating new, sustainable jobs while up-skilling the workforce.

South Africa stands at the forefront of the effort to create a diversified and secure global supply chain for critical minerals, and welcomes international partners to meet and discuss their strategic plans and investments at the summit.

The African Critical Minerals Summit will cover key themes such as the intersection of energy and minerals, renewable energy and storage solutions, technology and computing, aerospace and defence, and financing a new era of mineral wealth
in Africa.

source, energycapitalpower.com