LAGOS, Nov 3 – The World Bank Group’s plan to increase financing for the metals and minerals sector fivefold by 2030 could create new opportunities for African economies seeking to expand domestic mineral processing and capture more value from their natural resources.
The announcement, outlined in the World Bank’s Commodity Markets Outlook, October 2026, will raise the institution’s financing for the metals and minerals sector to $19 billion over the five years to 2030.
It comes as demand for critical minerals reshapes global investment priorities and supply chains, while resource-rich African countries seek to move beyond raw material exports towards processing, manufacturing and broader industrial development.
The potential impact for Africa extends beyond financing individual mining projects. Investment in electricity, transport infrastructure, industrial facilities and private-sector development could help establish more competitive mineral value chains across the continent.
However, the $19 billion target is not reserved exclusively for Africa or critical minerals. It covers the wider metals and minerals sector across emerging market and developing economies. African countries’ ability to benefit will therefore depend on the quality of projects they develop, their investment environments and their capacity to attract financing.
Africa’s mineral wealth and the value-addition gap
Africa holds substantial deposits of minerals used in the energy transition and advanced technologies, including cobalt, lithium, manganese, graphite, copper and platinum-group metals.
Despite its resource base, the continent remains concentrated largely in the extraction and export of raw or semi-processed materials. This limits the share of economic value retained within producing economies.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Africa is already a major supplier of several minerals, including cobalt, manganese, bauxite and platinum-group metals. Expanding domestic processing, smelting and refining could increase the economic contribution of these resources.
Analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that 24% of Africa’s critical mineral exports were raw materials, while 72% were semi-processed products. The figures reflect the limited development of domestic processing capacity and the concentration of higher-value activities in other regions.
The gap has implications for employment, industrial development and government revenue. Countries exporting minerals in raw or minimally processed forms capture only part of the value generated along the supply chain. Processing and refining can create additional industrial activity, skilled jobs and demand for local suppliers.
The World Bank’s financing expansion could help address some of the constraints preventing African economies from moving further into these higher-value activities.
Infrastructure remains central to mineral development
One of the principal barriers to expanding mineral processing in Africa is the availability of reliable electricity, transport networks, water and industrial facilities.
Mineral processing is capital-intensive and requires consistent access to energy and logistics infrastructure. Without these inputs, locally processed products can struggle to compete with established facilities in other markets.
The World Bank Group has identified infrastructure, including power, water and transport, as essential to connecting mineral-producing areas with processing facilities and manufacturing markets. Its support also covers geological data, workforce development, resource management and the mobilisation of private investment.
For African economies, this creates an opportunity to pursue financing that supports more than the development of individual mines. Investment in electricity generation and transmission, railways, ports and industrial corridors could help establish the conditions for processing minerals closer to where they are extracted.
These infrastructure investments could also support other economic activities, including manufacturing, agriculture and regional trade.
The opportunity is relevant to countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Guinea, Ghana and Mozambique, where mineral resources could underpin wider industrial development.
Moving from mineral exports to industrial production
The broader economic opportunity lies in connecting mineral production to manufacturing.
Critical minerals are essential inputs for batteries, electric vehicles, renewable energy technologies, electricity networks and other advanced industrial products. Developing processing and manufacturing capabilities could allow African economies to capture a larger share of the value generated by these industries.
The IEA report, Stepping Up the Value Chain in Africa, identifies opportunities for countries to expand beyond mineral extraction into beneficiation, the production of energy-intensive materials and clean-energy technology manufacturing.
Among the opportunities highlighted are battery-grade graphite production in East Africa and high-purity manganese sulphate production in South Africa and Gabon.
Developing these activities could expand employment and create demand for engineers, technicians, logistics operators and specialised service providers. Processing facilities could also generate business opportunities for local suppliers, equipment manufacturers and supporting industries.
The World Bank’s emphasis on mobilising private capital could be important in attracting companies willing to invest in these activities. Public financing, guarantees and advisory support can help reduce some of the risks associated with large-scale industrial projects in emerging markets.
Nevertheless, financing alone will not guarantee the emergence of competitive processing industries. African countries will also need predictable regulatory frameworks, technical expertise, reliable energy supplies and access to markets.
Regional cooperation could expand the opportunity
Developing complete mineral-processing value chains independently may be difficult for many African economies because of the scale of investment required and the limitations of domestic markets.
Regional cooperation could offer a more practical approach.
Countries with complementary mineral resources could develop shared processing facilities, infrastructure corridors and manufacturing networks. Combining supply from multiple markets could improve economies of scale and connect mineral-producing areas to larger regional markets.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could support this approach by facilitating cross-border trade in mineral inputs, processed materials and manufactured products.
The OECD has also highlighted the potential of regional processing hubs, noting that cooperation between countries could improve the commercial viability of processing facilities by combining mineral supply from multiple markets.
This approach could be particularly relevant in Central and Southern Africa, where neighbouring countries have complementary mineral deposits and existing mining and processing capabilities.
Governance will determine the long-term economic returns
Africa’s experience with previous commodity booms demonstrates that mineral wealth does not automatically translate into broad-based economic development.
Expanding mining without adequate environmental safeguards, transparent resource management and meaningful local economic participation can leave producing communities with limited benefits while increasing pressure on land, water and public infrastructure.
Competition among countries to attract foreign investment also creates the risk of weak fiscal terms or poorly structured agreements that limit long-term economic returns from mineral resources.
The World Bank’s financing expansion will therefore need to be accompanied by effective regulation, stronger governance and investment in local capabilities if it is to support sustainable industrial development.
For African governments, the priority will be to develop projects that connect mineral extraction with domestic and regional industries, rather than treating increased mining investment as an end in itself.
The World Bank’s $19 billion target represents a potential source of financing for this transition. Its impact on Africa, however, will depend on how much capital reaches viable projects on the continent and whether those investments help build productive capacity beyond the mining sector.
Ultimately, the opportunity is not simply to extract more minerals. It is to use Africa’s mineral resources to develop industries, strengthen regional supply chains and retain a greater share of the economic value generated by the global energy transition.
