The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region has many of the sought after critical energy transition minerals. Now a five-year regional project is working to retain the mineral wealth locally while promoting livelihoods and driving industrialization.
The SADC region holds vast reserves of cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel, and platinum group metals which have for many years been exported raw or semi processed, denying full developmental benefits to countries. A landmark initiative, the project, Fostering Environmentally and Socially Responsible, Decarbonized, Inclusive and Transformative Value Chains for Energy Transition Minerals in the SADC Region launched today in Lusaka is aimed at changing that.
The project, supported financially by Germany’s International Climate Initiative (IKI) and led by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in partnership with regional stakeholders, will be implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It will support the building of value chains that are environmentally responsible, inclusive and transformative. The project runs from March 2026 to February 2031.
