Africa can finally mine, beneficiate and industrialise on its own terms
Key takeaways
- From Kenya to Ghana to Mali, governments are insisting their minerals be processed at home before they leave.
- That demand, long voiced but rarely enforced, is beginning to reshape African resource governance.
- Kenya’s move comes as the global race for critical minerals intensifies and Africa assumes greater strategic importance.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
From Kenya to Ghana to Mali, governments are insisting their minerals be processed at home before they leave. The old extractive bargain is starting to crack.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Mechanics work on a machine installed at Arcadia Lithium mine in Goromonzi, Zimbabwe [Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images]At the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on June 17, Kenyan President William Ruto revealed that his country was nearing a critical minerals agreement with the United States. Far more significant was Kenya’s insistence that its rare earths, lithium, graphite, copper, nickel and niobium be refined and processed domestically rather than exported as raw materials. This was not simply another minerals deal; it was a signal that African governments are trying to rewrite the extractive bargain.
That demand, long voiced but rarely enforced, is beginning to reshape African resource governance. Namibia has prohibited exports of unprocessed lithium, cobalt, manganese, graphite and rare earths. Mali is constructing a 200-tonne-a-year gold refinery while requiring more local refining. Ghana will begin buying 30 percent of large-scale gold output from July 2026 to strengthen local refining and reserves. Across the continent, governments are increasingly requiring natural resources to create industries at home before generating profits abroad. The turn is not confined to critical minerals; it reflects a wider push to keep more value from natural resources at home.