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APRI – Africa Policy Research Institute's Green and Transition Minerals Project has just published a policy brief, which looks at how EU CRMA and UK CMS frameworks impact African industrialization, and what shifts in political, diplomatic, and commercial relations are needed to support value addition in African countries.
Berlin, 11 September 2024 – APRI – Africa Policy Research Institute has today released a new publication as part of its Green and Transition Minerals Project. The publication, titled "How can African states benefit from the EU CRMA and the UK CMS?", explores the growing global demand for Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) and the potential impact of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act 2023 (CRMA) and UK Critical Mineral Strategy 2022/23 on African industrialization.
In the article, Christopher Vandome argues that while these frameworks may offer some opportunities for African countries, their focus on primary material exports is unlikely to significantly alter market dynamics. He emphasizes the need for more substantial capital allocations and clear implementation plans to ensure that African countries benefit from these initiatives.
"The EU and UK strategic frameworks for obtaining critical minerals could present developmental opportunities for African countries, but only if the gains outweigh the social and environmental costs of extraction," Vandome states. "Current capital allocations are not enough to guarantee supply security, and specific details on implementation and benefits for resource-rich developing countries are lacking."
The paper also highlights the importance of private sector involvement in driving value addition and beneficiation in Africa. "Non-market interventions enshrined in these strategies lack adequate mechanisms or incentives to attract private capital," Vandome explains. "Prioritizing African aspirations for value addition will necessitate a significant shift in political, diplomatic, and commercial relations between the EU, UK, and African stakeholders."
APRI Executive Director, Olumide Abimbola, emphasized the importance of the project in exploring how Africa can leverage its mineral resources for industrialization. “We all know that the world currently needs Africa's minerals, and we also know that African governments and stakeholders have the ambition of making sure that Africa's minerals do not just flow out of the continent but instead contribute to Africa's industrialization. How this ambition can be achieved is what we are exploring with this project,” he said.
Author
Christopher Vandome is a senior research fellow with Chatham House Africa Programme and a contributor to the World Universities Network project on Mining Accountability and Development in Africa led by the University of Cape Town.
Key Collaborators
- Olumide Abimbola is founder and director of APRI. His areas of focus include economic informality, trade policy, regional integration and natural resources management.
-Amir Lebdioui is a visiting fellow at APRI and Associate Professor of the Political Economy of Development and Director, Technology and Management Centre for Development at the University of Oxford. His research has focused on the economic diversification of resource-dependent nations, green industrial policy and low carbon innovation, commodity value addition and biodiversity-based development models.
- Patience Mususa is a visiting fellow at APRI and Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala. Her research interests cover mining, welfare and urbanisation, the role of critical minerals for the energy transition, and urban climate politics with a regional focus on southern central Africa.
- Rajneesh Bhuee - Green Transition Minerals Fellow at APRI
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@APRI_Africa
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About APRI
APRI is a nonpartisan and independent think tank that conducts research on key policy issues affecting Africa and African countries. APRI aims to provide insights to the policy-making processes of Germany and the European Union on African affairs. APRI also offers policy options to African leaders and civil society actors.
Vincent Reich
APRI - Africa Policy Research Private Institute gUG
+49 30-33909525
press@afripoli.org
https://doi.org/10.59184/pb024.08
https://afripoli.org/projects/green-minerals/how-can-african-states-benefit-from... ; to find and download the publication
https://afripoli.org/projects/green-minerals/; Green and Transition Minerals Project
https://afripoli.org/
Africa's Industrialization
APRI – Africa Policy Research Institute
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Africa's Industrialization
APRI – Africa Policy Research Institute
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