Africa can play hardball with those seeking to extract critical minerals to power their EV batteries. Already some of the major mining players are forging partnerships, trying to enhance cross-border cooperation to leverage control of the wealth beneath their feet, reports Yunus Kemp.
The demand for electric vehicles is starting to influence the bun fight over access to Africa’s critical minerals. The rare earth minerals and PGMs that feed the batteries powering the vehicles are a sector estimated at $8 trillion by 2025, set to reach $46 trillion by 2050.
African nations with skin in the game are forging partnerships to create inward looking value chains. These could be based on setting up production, manufacturing and transport networks — and are being set up to foster economic growth and infrastructure development.
Currently, EV battery design uses significant quantities of minerals such as lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel and graphite. Research by Nanyang Technological University’s Centre for African Studies show that key lithium-ion batteries’ minerals are available in ’ample quantities’ in South Africa (manganese, nickel and platinum); Democratic Republic of Congo (cobalt); Zimbabwe (lithium); Mozambique (graphite); and Zambia (copper).
In a 2022 report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says radically increasing global production and purchase of EVs with these battery designs will lead to ’order-of-magnitude increases in demand for these minerals.’
According to the IEA, Africa contributes substantially to the world’s annual production of six key minerals: 80% platinum, 77% cobalt, 51% manganese, 46% diamonds, 39% chromium and 22% gold.
The Agency projects that manufacturers of clean energy technology will need 40 times more lithium, 25 times more graphite and about 20 times more nickel and cobalt in 2040 than in 2020.
In 2021, the Government of the DRC, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), African Development Bank (AfDB), African Finance Corporation (AFC) and other entities collaborated to identify ways to channel investment to increase the continent’s share of the value chain for lithium-ion batteries, EVs and clean energy.
With 51% of the world’s cobalt reserves and a huge hydroelectric power potential, the DRC is uniquely positioned to become a low-cost, low-emissions producer of li-ion battery precursor materials and cells, according to anAfDB report, Strengthening Africa’s Role in the Battery and Electric Vehicle Value Chain.
” Radically increasing global production and purchase of EVs with these battery designs will lead to ’order-of-magnitude increases in demand for these minerals’. “
The UNECA office for North Africa recently launched a workshop on Developing Regional Value Chains in E-Mobility for Zambia, Morocco and the DRC, to foster the emergence of African electric mobility value chains by helping policymakers from the three countries acquire the technical knowledge required to develop them.
UNECA says North Africa could capitalise on the availability of materials needed to develop an electric mobility value chain (cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese and graphite).
“In contrast, countries such as the DRC, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia are well-placed to benefit from the extraction and local processing of cobalt and lithium,” says UNECA.
The DRC, meanwhile, is starting to see investment into its rail transport infrastructure, off its critical mineral riches.
The EU and US are investing in infrastructure via the Lobito Corridor — which will transport minerals from the DRC’s Copperbelt to the Angolan Coast. The two superpowers are also pouring money into research and development into next-gen EV batteries.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced in January that it is investing $131 million to improve the country’s EV battery supply chain and support EV innovation. Meanwhile, the Chinese are reportedly investing in the Tazara Rail Corridor in East Africa, to create a link between DRC mines and the Tanzania Coastline.
The Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University says reducing the critical mineral intensity of e-mobility is crucial to:
• Ease supply chain pressure
• Promote sustainable mining practices
• Develop a resilient national battery recycling infrastructure The Centre says cheaper EVs that are accessible to the mass market would be a crucial factor in increasing the demand of critical minerals.
“The availability of more affordable, smaller, shorter-range electric vehicles with re-manufactured batteries and a more widespread charging infrastructure, in combination with smart charging and V2G solutions, could reduce EV upfront costs as well as the total cost of ownership.
“This could potentially enable access to e-mobility for lower-income communities, currently excluded from the EV transition. Given the risk that cheaper access to electric vehicles could lead to a spike in CM demand, it is all the more important to explore pathways for equitable access to e-mobility with reduced critical mineral intensity.”
The EU, meanwhile, has called for greater data sharing across the e-mobility ecosystem.
“Competition between the EU, US and China over EV production is getting fierce, meanwhile different players of the e-mobility ecosystem keep their own data in silos.
“Every actor in the EV ecosystem generates data. Yet, much of this data – including vehicle characteristics, battery status, grid capacity and charging station performance – is not not shared today due to concerns over loss of competitive advantage for automakers, and privacy risks.
“This is impairing the efficiency of the entire e-mobility ecosystem.
“Data should become interoperable across the entire value chain by establishing standardised protocols, roaming networks for charging, grid congestion heat maps and common platforms to break down data silos.”
At the recent UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) in Nairobi, Ali Mohamed, Kenya’s special climate envoy based in the President’s office, said China is the source of nearly all electric vehicles on Kenyan roads.
“We are importing both the new energy vehicles from China and vital parts like charging batteries,” Mohamed said.
Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows exports of China’s new energy vehicles (NEVs) – including pure electric and hybrid vehicles – reached 1.2 million units in 2023.
Chinese electric vehicle brand BYD, surpassed Tesla to become the world’s largest pure electric vehicle manufacturer in the fourth quarter of 2023.
UNECA stresses that the global energy transition and exponential growth of the electric car sector can provide African countries with an opportunity: to develop regional electric mobility value chains while speeding up the continent’s economic integration.
The Africa E-mobility Alliance is predicting that by 2030, 30% of all vehicles sold in Africa will be Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs). ESI
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