The vast majority of critical minerals, critical to the global energy transition, lie beneath Africa’s rich soil. This was said by the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his opening speech at the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba, the largest mining sector conference on the African continent which opened in Cape Town. Ramaphosa, in his speech, mentioned critical metals such as manganese, iron, copper, cobalt, nickel and platinum.
The summit, which annually brings together investors and mining professionals from around the world, celebrates its 30th anniversary in Cape Town.
Ramaphosa, quoted by local and specialized media, said that South Africa is pursuing a just energy transition, at a pace and on a scale that the country can afford, in a way that ensures energy security and creates new opportunities for those affected from the energy transition. South Africa relies heavily on coal-fired power plants to generate electricity, but is gradually diversifying it with other energy sources: “Our just energy transition investment plan outlines a path to create new industries and support more livelihoods in the green economy,” said Ramaphosa.
The mining industry faces some challenges that dampen its operating environment, including global commodity price volatility, high energy prices and geopolitical tensions. In South Africa, President Ramaphosa explained, the sector is facing an energy crisis and port and rail bottlenecks which are putting strong pressure on the operating costs of operators in the sector: “We are committed to working hard and working together to overcome these serious challenges.”
Ramaphosa said South Africa has secured 1,384 megawatts of new generation capacity currently under construction or already in operation to ease the burden on the mining industry, which currently contributes about 7.5% of gross domestic product and accounts for about 60% of the export value.
Among the regional leaders expected to attend and speak at the South African mining conference will be Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. [Da Redazione InfoAfrica]
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