Progress
35%Aim
The African Commodities Strategy transforms Africa from a raw-material exporter into a value-added producer and global commodities power, capturing industrial rents from the continent's 30% share of global mineral reserves, its agricultural land, and its critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and manganese essential to the green energy transition.
Progress to date
AUDA-NEPAD leads implementation in coordination with the AfCFTA Secretariat. Several countries have introduced mineral beneficiation policies, most notably the DRC and Zimbabwe on cobalt and lithium. The AU's Critical Minerals Strategy was endorsed in 2023, and the Africa Green Minerals Summit has convened senior stakeholders to coordinate continental positioning ahead of major global green-economy investment cycles.
Challenges
Infrastructure deficits make local processing economically challenging in many resource-rich but landlocked states, long-term off-take agreements with global buyers continue to lock in raw commodity exports, and industrial policy capacity within AU member states varies widely.
Next steps
The AU and AUDA-NEPAD are developing a continental beneficiation roadmap for the top ten critical minerals, aligned with AfCFTA value-chain goals, targeting first measurable shifts in export composition by 2030.