AMW 2026 returns to Cape Town
Taking place October 14-16 in Cape Town, AMW 2026 returns with a sharpened focus on partnerships and transactions that advance Africa’s mineral value chain. This year’s event takes place under the theme Mining the Future: Unearthing Africa’s Full Mineral Value, reflecting a growing emphasis on project bankability, downstream beneficiation and cross-border collaboration as Africa seeks to strengthen its position in increasingly competitive global minerals markets.
Africa hosts some of the world’s largest reserves of cobalt, platinum group metals, chrome, coltan and manganese, placing the continent at the forefront of global minerals essential to electrification, clean energy deployment and industrial expansion.
International partnerships drive production
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – Africa’s largest copper producer and the world’s leading cobalt supplier – recently partnered with the U.S to leverage technical expertise and financing to unlock an estimated $24 trillion in untapped mineral potential. Speaking at AMW 2025, the country’s minister of mines Louis Watum Kabamba, underscored the level of opportunity that remains in the country,.
“Opportunities across the mining sector in the DRC are huge, with 90% of our resources awaiting greenfield exploration.”
Similarly, Guinea - home to the world’s largest bauxite reserves - is enhancing cooperation with global investors to maximize its mineral value chain under the Simandou 2040 - an international cooperation and national development strategy.
Securing $20 billion in international investments for the Simandou iron ore project, Guinea is leveraging this global partnership model to expand bauxite production and processing, corelating to a 25% increase in bauxite exports in 2025.
Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, is positioning its copper sector as a catalyst for economic expansion, GDP growth and employment creation. The country is actively engaging international investors to achieve its 2031 production target of 3.1 million tons per annum, reinforcing Africa’s role in future copper supply chains.
Balancing exports with local value addition
As global mineral demand rises, African governments are increasingly prioritizing local beneficiation to retain value, deepen domestic supply chains and unlock broader economic growth. Ghana, Africa’s largest gold producer, recently signed an agreement with South Africa’s Rand Refinery to expand domestic gold processing capacity. Mali is developing a 200-ton-per-annum gold refinery in partnership with Russian investors.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe, Africa’s largest lithium producer, is working with Chinese investors to expand lithium processing capacity ahead of its 2027 ban on lithium concentrate exports. These moves signal a broader shift form export-centered development models to strategies that prioritise domestic markets.
APO News Agency
