By Binaifer Nowrojee, President, Open Society Foundations
The next time you hold your smartphone or plug in an electric vehicle, pause for a moment to consider where that power began. It likely started in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where cobalt is extracted from the earth. It may have originated in Zimbabwe or Mali, where lithium is mined.
It begins in Africa.
The continent holds more than 30 percent of the critical minerals needed to power the global transition to cleaner energy and a more digital economy. Yet, too often, the people living atop these vast reserves remain among the world’s poorest. They bear the dust, polluted water, environmental degradation, dangerous working conditions, poverty and conflict, while the prosperity these resources should generate flows elsewhere.
The defining question is whether Africa can transform its extraordinary mineral wealth into broad-based prosperity for its people. Can critical minerals drive industrialization, strengthen democratic governance, address the root causes of conflict and create shared economic opportunity? Or will history repeat itself?
Africa has travelled this road before.
Gold. Diamonds. Oil. Gas.
Each promised transformation. Too often, each enriched only a select few while leaving surrounding communities trapped in poverty. Nigeria has generated more than $400 billion in oil revenues since the 1960s, yet roughly 40 percent of its population still lives in poverty. The Democratic Republic of the Congo possesses some of the world’s richest cobalt reserves, but its eastern provinces have endured decades of violence. Sierra Leone’s illicit diamond trade financed a devastating civil war, including the horrific amputation of civilians’ hands, so that consumers elsewhere could wear diamond engagement rings.
These experiences underscore a simple truth: natural resources alone do not create development. Leadership does. Strong institutions do. Accountability does.
Today, the world is witnessing a new scramble for Africa, this time for the minerals that will power the 21st-century economy. The world’s largest economies recognize that their economic and strategic futures depend on what lies beneath African soil. China dominates much of the global cobalt refining industry. The United States has designated dozens of African minerals as strategically important to its national security. The European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act seeks to deepen partnerships across African supply chains.
This presents Africa with an extraordinary opportunity, not merely to supply the world with critical minerals, but to reshape the terms on which those resources are developed.
That opportunity, however, will only be realized if African governments place the interests of their citizens first and negotiate from a position of collective strength rather than fragmented competition. Otherwise, the continent risks repeating a familiar cycle of extraction and dependency under a different name.
This is about far more than economics.
It is about democracy, human rights and dignity.
Experience across resource-rich nations shows that governments heavily dependent on mineral exports often become less accountable to their citizens as reliance on taxation declines. Competition for lucrative mining concessions fuels corruption, weakens electoral integrity and entrenches patronage networks. Democratic institutions are hollowed out, and where state capacity is fragile, armed groups and criminal networks thrive.
But the reverse is equally true.
When citizens understand how decisions are made, when communities have a meaningful voice, when institutions are independent and leaders are held accountable, natural wealth can strengthen democracy rather than undermine it. Critical minerals can become catalysts for democratic renewal instead of drivers of democratic erosion.
Realizing that potential requires transparent licensing and revenue management, robust parliamentary oversight, independent courts, well-resourced anti-corruption institutions and meaningful public participation. Citizens deserve to know who owns mining rights, how contracts are negotiated and how mineral revenues are collected, managed and invested.
The path forward is clear.
First, Africa must invest in world-class expertise. Governments should develop a new generation of African geologists, engineers, lawyers, environmental specialists, data scientists and negotiators capable of shaping every mining agreement in the continent’s long-term interest. An African Union Mineral Governance Academy could help build this strategic capacity.
Second, African countries should leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area to strengthen collective bargaining power, deepen regional value chains and build industries that create jobs and wealth within Africa rather than exporting raw materials abroad.
Third, transparency must become non-negotiable. Citizens have a right to know who owns mining concessions, how contracts are awarded, what environmental impacts projects will have, where revenues are directed and how decisions are made. Mining contract transparency should become the continental standard.
Fourth, local communities must become genuine partners in development rather than passive observers watching wealth leave their land. Their rights should be protected through meaningful participation, enforceable benefit-sharing agreements, strong environmental safeguards and legally guaranteed community oversight of mining operations.
Fifth, small-scale artisanal miners should be recognized as legitimate economic actors. Governments should support mining cooperatives, improve safety standards, expand access to finance and technology, and protect miners from exploitative intermediaries.
The global transition to clean energy must also be a just transition—one grounded in binding due diligence standards, responsible sourcing and ethical supply chains that respect both human rights and environmental sustainability.
The world needs Africa’s critical minerals.
But Africa needs something even more valuable: governments worthy of their people’s trust.
Africa’s greatest resource has never been what lies beneath its soil. It is its people. If African leaders govern in their citizens’ best interests, these minerals will do far more than power the world’s batteries.
They will power Africa’s future.
