In his opening article in this issue of Africa in Fact, ‘Digging for Justice’, Good Governance Africa’s (GGA) Director of research and programmes, Dr Ross Harvey, asks the question: “Can mining tell a new story?” – and that is exactly what the articles herein attempt to answer.
In asking whether mining can tell a new story, the question is not rhetorical. Africa holds about 30% of the world’s mineral wealth, and in a world of scarily rapid technological development and the urgent quest for greener energy options, these minerals have taken on a new strategic importance. Yet, Africa continues to face poverty and underdevelopment while its mineral exports fuel growth elsewhere.
And therein lies the paradox: while mining has generated revenues and infrastructure in some contexts, host communities bear the long-term social, environmental, and economic costs. Resource wealth has too often translated into short-term rents for elites, while communities face displacement, water scarcity, soil contamination, and the destruction of livelihoods.
This issue of Africa in Fact examines which countries, including Nigeria, DRC, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, policy and regulatory reforms are taking root and showing results, where they are contested and why, and how community voices are now shaping the governance of extractives.
As Ronak Gopaldas writes, Africa’s mining sector faces a moment of profound consequence. “The global race for critical minerals has placed the continent at the centre of industrial strategy and national security debates,” he says. “The opportunity is immense, but so are the risks. Some countries will manage to convert their mineral wealth into durable and inclusive growth, while others may once again see promise dissipate. The difference will lie not in geology, but in the quality of governance, policy choices and the ability to build trust.”
As Dr Harvey points out in his article, the minerals underpinning modern technologies illustrate this tension. “An iPhone contains cobalt, copper and lithium, much of it mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zimbabwe and other fragile jurisdictions. Similarly, renewable energy infrastructure depends on resource extraction at scale. A three-megawatt wind turbine requires up to 600kg of rare earths and 5,000 kg of copper. A single solar farm demands tonnes of silver and millions of tonnes of aluminium. Drones, satellites and military technologies rely on many of the same minerals. Transitioning to a low-carbon economy will not reduce the world’s dependence on mining but increase it.”
For policymakers, Gopaldas notes, the central dilemma is how to capture and distribute value today without undermining credibility tomorrow. “In Africa, calls for beneficiation, industrialisation and job creation are intensifying, while the charge of ‘climate colonialism’ – exporting green metals to serve foreign decarbonisation without securing domestic gains – is gaining traction.”
The human cost of extraction is high, particularly in fragile countries where state institutions and governance are weak and formal employment opportunities are scarce. Several African countries, including South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana and Zambia, have implemented legal and policy reforms, but enforcement and monitoring have been slow and uneven. Too often, governments have also gone over the heads of communities, their traditional leaders and local councils in their eagerness to grant licences to multinationals whose adherence to their CSR and environmental responsibilities is perfunctory at best. But this is changing as communities find their voice.
The brutal human cost of mining in disempowered, often rural, host communities is vividly illustrated in Adet Adio Dinika’s article on Zimbabwe’s lithium rush. In one example, three children were injured by blast debris in August this year, while the father of one of them lost his leg in a mining accident at the same facility in 2024. “Zimbabwe has become Africa’s largest lithium producer, with output exploding from 800 MT in 2022 to 22,000 MT in 2024, a staggering transformation that masks a familiar pattern of extraction and exclusion,” Dinika writes. “Every ChatGPT query, every autonomous vehicle mile, every data centre computation in California depends on lithium torn from beneath the feet of families like these.”
In compiling this issue of AIF, it was also essential to pay attention to the current role of women and informal, artisanal and small-scale miners in the context of affected communities. Significant because, as the statistics reveal, some 40-50% of Africa’s artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) workforce is women, while across the continent, an estimated 10 million people rely on this sector for their livelihoods, with millions more dependants. Despite participating across the mining value chain, women’s work remains mainly informal, without access to secure land, licences, credit and markets. Unregulated small-scale and artisanal mining also leads to unsafe working conditions and land degradation, and creates opportunities for crime and corruption. Artisanal mining cannot be wished away, and several articles argue for formalisation and integration in national policy and planning.
There is not enough space to highlight each article in this issue. Still, each seeks to suggest a way forward in reshaping a narrative of inclusive, transparent, equitable, and sustainable policies that benefit governments, investors, and host communities alike.
Finally, we would like to thank the Southern Africa Trust for their continued support, which contributed to the research on this issue of Africa in Fact. Since 2022, the Trust has supported GGA in research, community engagement, and policy development work, seeking to strengthen the voices and agency of vulnerable communities in mining regions across southern Africa.
Susan Russell is the editor of Good Governance Africa’s quarterly journal, Africa in Fact. She has worked in the media industry for more than 30 years as a journalist, editor, publisher, and as a general manager. Career highlights include several years working for Business Day and more than a decade as a reporter, editor and General Manager at the Sunday Times in Johannesburg.
