Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe. Photo: Gulshan Khan/AFP
Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has called on African countries to add coal as a critical mineral when developing an energy strategy.
Speaking at the African Critical Minerals Summit in Johannesburg, Mantashe said the continent needs to collectively develop an industrial strategy which will enable it to transform economies, eradicate poverty and underpin the continent’s sustainable growth and development. He said the continent must unite in classifying coal as a critical mineral.
“We submit that the absence of coal in the diversified energy mix will equally have significant consequences for our economies and thus coal ought to be classified as a critical mineral.”
Mantashe has often argued that the exclusion of coal from the energy mix was detrimental to African economies because renewable energy does not have the baseload needed to provide sufficient electricity during peak times.
On Tuesday, Mantashe said coal should equally be deemed a critical mineral for the generation of baseload energy to ensure security of power supply and eliminate energy poverty on the African continent.
His call to add coal to the energy mix comes as countries around the world make plans to move away from fossil fuels to curb the impact of climate change.
Cleaner energy
Mantashe has often argued that shutting down the use of coal would have a detrimental effect on the communities who rely on the coal industry to survive.
The Presidential Climate Commission argued in a recent report that the use of coal would be expensive in the future and unsustainable as the world moves towards cleaner energy sources.
“The fact of the matter is that Africa holds enormous reserves of minerals such as platinum, manganese, vanadium, nickel, copper, cobalt, lithium, graphite, titanium, rhodium and other rare earth minerals. All these minerals are listed in the various minerals that are deemed critical,” Mantashe said.
He added that it was time for Africa to define what critical minerals are, according to the continent’s needs, and to also develop a clear roadmap on how to maximise, use and monetise these resources to add value to its economies.
A holistic approach
He said that how Africa defines and lists critical minerals is vital because it will have significant implications for strategic planning, prioritisation and investment decision-making.
“Therefore, our approach to defining critical minerals must be holistic, with consideration of our national and continental needs, and global trends,” he said.
The minister said because Africa is positioning itself as a leading critical-minerals producer in the world, and serves as a catalyst for a just energy transition, it must aim to be a price-setter.
“We are the dominant suppliers of platinum, but we don’t have a view that can be expressed in setting the price, so these critical minerals are important for Africa so that we can influence, not only the prices, but also movement of those minerals.
He added: “Unfortunately, because African countries are poor, we need co-operation among us as African countries. If we don’t do that, we’re going to compete with each other.
Mantashe said there could be no green future without Africa’s minerals.
“We must therefore insist on the creation of value in countries of origin to change the status quo on the African continent.”
It was in the best interests of Africa to develop a new mining order directed at ensuring these minerals are beneficiated at source or locally “to stimulate economic growth, industrialise our economies and improve the trade balance of the continent”.
Mandisa Nyathi is a climate reporting fellow, funded by the Open Society Foundation for South Africa