Africa holds the minerals that power electric cars, smartphones and wind turbines across the globe, yet more than 600 million people on the continent still have no access to electricity, the President of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, Dr George Nana Agyekum Donkor, has said.
Delivering a keynote address at the ongoing Future of Energy Conference (FEC) in Accra, Dr Donkor described the contradiction as one of the defining injustices of the global energy transition: a continent rich enough in resources to power the world’s clean energy revolution, but too poor in infrastructure to light its own homes, clinics and classrooms.
The Future of Energy Conference, organised annually by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), has convened policymakers, financiers, mining executives and civil society groups this year under the theme “Powering Africa’s Industrial Transformation.” The gathering is examining how the continent can move beyond exporting raw resources to capturing greater value from its energy and mineral wealth.
A continent of paradoxes
Africa is estimated to hold around 30% of the world’s proven mineral reserves, according to figures cited at previous editions of the conference and drawn from United Nations and industry assessments. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia dominate global cobalt and copper supply, both essential for batteries and electric grids. South Africa holds the world’s largest reserves of platinum group metals, used in hydrogen fuel cells, while Mozambique and Madagascar are emerging as key graphite suppliers for battery manufacturing.
Global demand for these critical minerals is projected to rise sharply — by close to four times current levels by 2040, according to estimates presented at earlier FEC sessions — as the world races to decarbonise transport and power systems. The International Monetary Fund has separately noted that sub-Saharan Africa accounts for a substantial share of global output of several minerals central to the energy transition.
Yet despite sitting atop this wealth, energy poverty remains entrenched.
Over 600 million Africans lack access to electricity, and roughly one billion rely on traditional biomass — wood, charcoal and crop waste — for cooking, according to figures repeatedly cited at the conference. Analysts say this dependence perpetuates cycles of poverty, deforestation and poor health outcomes, particularly for women and children exposed to indoor air pollution.
Calls for value addition, not extraction
Speakers at this year’s conference argued that the paradox stems less from a lack of resources than from decades of policy choices that favoured raw mineral exports over local processing, industrialisation and grid investment.
Several African governments are now attempting to change course. Zimbabwe has restricted exports of raw lithium ore to compel in-country processing, while other mineral-rich states are exploring similar value-addition strategies, according to conference materials.
The European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act, enacted in recent years to secure supply chains for the bloc’s own green transition, has added urgency to the debate, with delegates warning that Africa risks repeating historical patterns of exporting raw wealth while importing finished, higher-value goods — including the very electricity infrastructure it needs.
Dr Donkor’s intervention adds the ECOWAS Bank’s voice to a growing chorus of African financial institutions and policy bodies pressing for financing models that link mineral wealth directly to domestic energy access — including through local beneficiation, regional power pooling, and blended finance mechanisms that de-risk investment in African grids.
What next!
The conference continues in Accra with panel sessions on infrastructure readiness, industrial energy costs and regional integration, alongside an Innovation Challenge showcasing African-led solutions in battery recycling, off-grid power and clean cooking. ACEP believes the outcomes will feed into policy recommendations aimed at closing the gap between Africa’s resource abundance and the daily reality of hundreds of millions still living without power.