Energy Transition
Critical minerals, battery materials, renewables, storage, grid infrastructure and electrification.
Overview
Critical minerals, battery materials, renewables, storage, grid infrastructure and electrification.
Key data
- Type
- transition
- Commodities
- Copper, Cobalt, Graphite, Lithium, Nickel
- Countries
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania, Ghana
- Value chains
- Copper to cathode, Battery materials
Related companies
miningIvanhoe Mines
Vancouver, Canada
Co-developer of the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the DRC, among the highest-grade large copper mines in the world.
miningCMOC Group
Luoyang, China
Operator of Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu in the DRC, making it one of the world's largest cobalt producers.
miningLifezone Metals
Isle of Man
Developing the Kabanga nickel project in Tanzania with a hydrometallurgical refining route intended to keep processing in-country.
miningSyrah Resources
Melbourne, Australia
Owner of the Balama graphite operation in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, supplying natural graphite for anode markets.
miningOCP Group
Casablanca, Morocco
State-owned phosphate and fertilizer group investing heavily in renewable power and green industrial processes.
Business opportunities
Related countries
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The DRC hosts the highest-grade major copper mines in the world and dominates global cobalt supply, with the Lobito Corridor reshaping how that output reaches international markets.
South Africa
South Africa has the continent's deepest mining, metals and chemicals industrial base, and its energy agenda is dominated by Eskom's generation fleet, transmission capacity and the renewables procurement programme.
Zambia
Zambia's copper growth ambition depends as much on hydropower availability and Lobito Corridor logistics as on orebody quality.
Namibia
Namibia is a top-tier uranium producer and has become the most closely watched frontier oil province in Africa following Orange Basin discoveries.
Egypt
Egypt combines large offshore gas production, LNG re-export infrastructure and one of the world's largest solar parks at Benban.
Morocco
Morocco pairs the Noor Ouarzazate solar complex and strong wind resources with OCP's phosphate industry and a growing automotive and battery-materials ambition.
Tanzania
Tanzania hosts the Kabanga nickel deposit and significant gold production, while the onshore LNG project remains subject to commercial agreement.
Ghana
Ghana is among Africa's largest gold producers, with offshore oil production at Jubilee and TEN and an emerging lithium development agenda.
Related commodities
Copper
The core electrification metal. African supply is concentrated in the Central African Copperbelt across the DRC and Zambia.
Cobalt
Battery cathode input produced largely as a copper by-product in the DRC, which accounts for the majority of world mine supply.
Graphite
Anode feedstock. Mozambique and Tanzania hold some of the largest natural flake graphite resources outside China.
Lithium
Zimbabwe, Mali, Namibia and Ghana have moved African hard-rock lithium from exploration into production and concentrate export.
Nickel
Kabanga in Tanzania is one of the largest development-stage nickel sulphide deposits globally.
Value chains
Related news
Lobito Corridor volumes become the metric to watch for Copperbelt exports
The Atlantic route shortens transit versus east coast alternatives; realised tonnage will determine its strategic weight.
DRC holds cobalt exports to 96,600 tonnes a year as refining stays in China
The DRC caps cobalt exports at 96,600 tonnes a year, while processing remains concentrated in China, according to Le Point.cd's review after the 23–25 September Trump–Xi meeting.
Copperbelt growth keeps running into the power question
Expansion plans in Lualaba and North-Western Province depend on firm electricity, placing hydropower rehabilitation and imports at the centre of copper strategy.
Tanzania positions Kabanga as an in-country refining model
The project's hydrometallurgical route is framed as a test of whether African nickel can move beyond concentrate export.
Eskom energy availability reaches 68.2%, highest in six years
Eskom reports a financial-year-to-date Energy Availability Factor of 68.2%. Year-to-date diesel spend fell R4.87 billion (80.47%) to R1.18 billion, and the utility reports 5,695 MW of surplus capacity.
TotalEnergies completes entry as operator of Namibia's PEL83, holding Mopane
TotalEnergies now holds a 40% operated interest in PEL83 alongside Galp (40%), Namcor (10%) and Custos (10%), after completing its December 2025 transaction with Galp.
Benban remains the template for multi-investor solar at scale
Egypt's Aswan solar complex is still referenced as the structuring precedent for large African renewable clusters.
Transmission capacity, not generation, now frames South Africa's renewables debate
Grid access constraints in high-resource provinces are the binding factor for new renewable capacity.
Related intelligence
Africa's critical minerals: concentrate exporter or materials producer?
Graphite, lithium, nickel and cobalt endowments are established. Processing location is the open question that determines value capture.
African copper growth is a power and logistics problem
Grade is not the constraint in the Central African Copperbelt. Firm electricity and export corridor capacity are.
African liquefaction capacity: what is actually under construction
Separating announced capacity from sanctioned, financed and physically progressing capacity across Nigeria, Mozambique and Egypt.
Country intelligence: Mozambique resource economy
Gas, graphite, coal, heavy sands and aluminium in one economy — and the infrastructure that determines whether they connect.