Stepping Up the Value Chain in Africa

This report explores key opportunities for African countries to step up the value chain in the growing global market for energy technologies, identifying opportunities beyond a role centred around extraction and mining to one more focused on mineral beneficiation, material production and technology manufacturing. These opportunities would enable Africa to retain a greater share of the economic value generated across energy technology supply chains, and would simultaneously contribute to global efforts to enhance supply chain diversification and resilience.

The economic benefits of the new energy economy are currently distributed very unevenly. Emerging markets and developing economies other than China account for less than 5% of the value generated from producing key energy technologies today. In Africa, there are currently only a small number of facilities dedicated to the beneficiation and processing of critical minerals and resources essential for energy technologies and materials, and only a handful of plants for manufacturing such technologies. In light of this, the government of South Africa requested that the IEA provide insights into potential opportunities for sustainable industrialisation in Africa to inform discussions at the G20 meetings in Johannesburg in 2025. This report explores selected elements of these opportunities and presents strategic considerations for countries seeking to diversify and expand their energy technology manufacturing sectors, which have particular relevance for the G20.