[PRESSWIRE] Cape Town, South Africa – 9 February, 2026 — African mining ministers have agreed to intensify efforts to process and add value to minerals within their own borders, signalling a shift away from reliance on raw exports and towards greater industrialisation.
The ministers, who have convened for the annual Mining Indaba, said domestic value addition, particularly for strategic and critical minerals, was essential to increasing government revenues, creating jobs and strengthening African economies.
The minister identified reliable and affordable energy as a decisive factor in turning policy into practice.
Tanzania’s Minister for Minerals, Anthony Mavunde, said the discussions highlighted the need for closer coordination between the mining and energy sectors, drawing on Tanzania’s recent experience.
Speaking in an interview, after the minsiters held a closed-door meeting, Minister Mavunde said Tanzania had invested heavily in power generation and transmission to support mineral processing and beneficiation.
“Value addition is not possible without stable energy supply,” he said, citing the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project, which has an installed capacity of 2,115 megawatts and is designed to underpin industrial growth, including in mining.
He also pointed to the expansion of the national electricity grid by state utility TANESCO into mining areas, as well as rural electrification projects implemented through the Rural Energy Agency (REA), which are bringing power to remote locations with mining activity.
“These investments are enabling both large-scale operators and small-scale miners to increase production and move into processing,” Mavunde said.
Benjamin Mchampaka, executive secretary of the Tanzania Chamber of Mines, said the ministerial meeting was significant in confronting shared challenges that have constrained investment across the continent.
“Africa is rich in minerals, yet investment levels remain below potential,” Mchampaka said. “There is now a strong push for coordinated strategies and, where possible, common policies to ensure minerals—especially strategic ones—are processed locally and deliver tangible benefits to our economies.”
The Mining Indaba session placed strong emphasis on public–private partnerships and cross-border cooperation, with ministers agreeing that fragmented policies have weakened Africa’s position in global mineral value chains.
As global demand for critical minerals accelerates, driven by energy transition and new technologies, ministers said Africa must act collectively to secure a larger share of the value generated from its resources, with energy infrastructure forming the backbone of that effort.
· The ministerial discussions took place on the sidelines of the annual Mining Indaba, one of Africa’s leading mining investment forums.
· Ministers emphasised domestic mineral processing and beneficiation as central to industrialisation, fiscal resilience and job creation across the continent.
· Tanzania cited energy infrastructure as foundational to mineral value addition, highlighting the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (2,115 MW installed capacity) as a key enabler of industrial growth.
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