Lamola warns mineral deals could repeat Africa’s old dependency
PRETORIA — International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola has warned that global competition for Africa’s critical minerals could repeat an extractive pattern in which the continent supplies raw materials while industrial wealth grows elsewhere. He called for partnerships that turn mineral resources into African jobs, manufacturing and lasting economic development.
Speaking at an Africa-Europe relations conference hosted by the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria on Monday, Lamola said Africa should reject arrangements that perpetuate economic dependence without meaningful structural change. His warning concerns the terms of investment as major powers seek minerals needed for the energy transition.
“If we do not treat the rare minerals issue with respect and prudence, it runs the risk of becoming another ‘scramble for Africa’,” he said. Lamola argued that the continent’s history of supplying resources had too often generated prosperity abroad while leaving Africans in deprivation.
The competition is already shaping investment decisions. Reuters reported on Friday that the US International Development Finance Corporation plans to increase direct equity investment, including in African critical minerals projects, as Washington seeks to counter China’s dominance of strategic supply chains. The agency said more than $3 billion of its African commitments were in critical minerals.
Transport infrastructure is another arena of competition. The Western-backed Lobito corridor is intended to move copper and cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia towards Angola’s Atlantic coast. The TAZARA railway connects mineral-rich areas to Tanzania and the Indian Ocean, offering access to Asian markets. Reuters has described the competing projects as part of the race to secure African mineral supplies.
For African economies, better export routes can attract investment and improve market access. Lamola’s position is that those gains must be accompanied by development beyond extraction. Processing minerals locally, developing technical skills and supplying more advanced products would allow countries to participate in additional stages of production rather than rely mainly on shipping raw materials.
South Africa’s 2025 Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy sets out that ambition. It calls for investment in mining projects, processing plants, technical expertise and innovation, with the objective of moving the country towards producing intermediate and finished products. Delivering that shift requires coordinated public and private investment, according to the strategy.
Lamola also identified opportunities for European cooperation beyond mining. EWN reported that he highlighted specialised training in financial crime, cybercrime and counterterrorism, alongside institution-building. He said Africa’s youthful population could contribute to the energy transition and artificial intelligence research and development.
Financing remains part of the challenge. Lamola said 25 African countries had recently spent more on debt servicing than on health and education. That was his assessment of the pressure on public resources, accompanying his criticism of a global financial system he said disadvantaged developing nations.
His remarks set a test for future mineral partnerships: whether they finance processing capacity, skills and businesses within Africa alongside extraction and transport. The investment race is creating opportunities, but the practical outcome will depend on the agreements African governments negotiate and their ability to deliver the infrastructure and institutions needed for local industry.
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