From CFACT

By Duggan Flanakin

Africa’s minerals industry got a wake-up call when Signal Risk director Ronak Gopaldas and Rohitesh Dhawan, president and CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), wrote that “Africa’s resource-rich countries must recalibrate their strategies” in response to recent global turbulence.

The decade-long trade wars, pandemic-induced disruptions, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed vulnerabilities in mineral supply chains, forcing governments and corporations to adopt de-risking strategies, as economic and security priorities have become increasingly intertwined. African nations are for the first time in a position to manage their own minerals portfolios.

But will they?

Many African states are seeking to leverage their resources to ensure that their nations are involved not just with extraction but with processing and even manufacturing. But government planning that conflicts with corporate strategies can backfire. Grandiose job creation and industrialization “five-year plans” often do not pass the smell test for corruption.

John Ouma, founder of the vocational education and training firm Evetti, points to a group of African leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and thinkers determined to shift the narrative from exploitation to African ownership of Africa’s resources. Ouma says that African nations must invest in skills, infrastructure, and governance to ensure that the continent’s natural wealth builds sustainable, inclusive development for Africans by Africans.

The Africa Energy Bank, launched with an initial capital base of $5 billion on June 4, 2024, was created to address the critical financing needs of Africa’s oil, gas, and broader energy sectors. The initial capitalization for the bank, the product of a strategic partnership between the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), came from national oil companies, sovereign wealth funds, and others.

The AEB’s objectives include financing oil and gas projects from exploration and production to refining and midstream and downstream activities; facilitating the energy transition from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy sources without sacrificing energy security; promoting and financing the trade of crude oil, natural gas, and refined products among African nations; and even supporting non-member African states.

Yet the key to its long-term success may lie in its mission to conduct market research, offer technical assistance, and support studies on fossil fuels, renewable energy, and other energy forms to keep pace with global energy trends.

APPO was created in 1987 (initially as the African Petroleum Producers’ Association) to serve as a platform for cooperation and harmonization of efforts, collaboration, and sharing of knowledge and expertise among Africa’s oil-producing nations. The Afreximbank was formed in 1993 with a mission to stimulate a consistent expansion, diversification, and development of African trade while operating as a profit-oriented institution and center of excellence.

According to Joshua Narh, executive chairman for the Energy Chamber of Ghana, the Africa Energy Bank “isn’t just news; it’s a turning point. If done right, AEB will be the silver bullet for Africa’s energy transformation.” Narh says that the AEB is “Africa’s stake in its own energy destiny – a decisive step away from dependency and toward ownership, influence, and opportunity.”

At the signing ceremony, APPO said the AEB was created to address the impending funding crisis in the African oil and gas industry, triggered by the global energy transition.” Afreximbank pledged that economic development funded by the AEB will be compatible with the UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

That said, Narh added that access to capital is but one element in creating transformative energy projects. Many stall because of a lack of structure. Vague risk profiles, immature commercial models, and fragmented regulatory frameworks are deal breakers. To that end, the AEB must be a catalyst, market shaper, and deal maker in addition to its role as a lender.

The bank will support early-stage development to ensure that projects are investment-ready; to provide expert structuring to ensure that business models can stand up to global scrutiny; to de-risk the environment by engaging governments, resolving policy bottlenecks, and providing instruments that reduce risk premiums; and to forge strategic partnerships with sponsors, developers, and regulators to create “truly investable projects.”

Africa, Narh concluded, needs more than funding – it needs flow, which comes from smart capital, trusted structures, and relentless execution. Africa does not need interference from American, European, and Chinese operatives seeking to enrich themselves at Africa’s expense. It is not just Africans who have misallocated “aid” money for personal gain.

For example, the U.S. African Development Foundation was recently exposed for redirecting U.S. taxpayer funds through African entities to benefit Washington insiders. The ADF is accused of using foreign pass-throughs to conceal payments to U.S. employees and their affiliates. In one case, the Kenyan journalism group Africa 24 was instructed to use grant money to pay salaries of ADF’s Washington, DC headquarters staff.

Nor does Africa benefit from actions by “coup belt” insurgencies that some say are influenced by Russian mercenaries. Mali detained executives of major mining companies and issued arrest warrants for others on the pretext of “unpaid taxes.” Niger followed suit by seizing control of French uranium mining operations.

Gopaldas and Dhawan argue that localization and regionalization are increasingly vital in the shifting geometry of international trade. Countries should specialize within the value chain and collaborate regionally to build a sustainable ecosystem. African nations should employ a collective approach to enhance their bargaining power in trade negotiations with China, the EU, and the U.S.

Given that many industries have long records of exploitation with little benefit to the average African, it is vital that companies today commit to credible voluntary standards of responsible mining and that governments demand minimum baselines of good practice. That could do much to build and maintain public support.

Africans can be the chief beneficiaries of the commercialization of the continent’s mineral wealth only if their governments and businesses exercise calm and credible leadership, transparent dialogue, and a shared commitment to long-term value creation. By building trust in their institutions, Africans can forge a clear path to a prosperous and equitable future.

This article originally appeared at Real Clear Energy