The value of mining deals in Africa declined by 79% over the past five years, compared with a more than tripling in Latin America over the same period, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.
The divergence shows how risk perceptions continue to weigh on Africa, despite its vast reserves of copper, nickel, manganese, lithium, uranium, silver, and other minerals critical to the energy transition and technology supply chains.
That has made miners wary of committing capital — though Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries want to change that trend, through vehicles like the Public Investment Fund-backed Manara Minerals and Abu Dhabi’s International Resources Holding.
The McKinsey analysis, released ahead of this week’s Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, discusses the potential for greater cooperation in a “super region” spanning Africa, Western Asia, and Central Asia. The area holds more than half of the world’s critical mineral reserves, but has the lowest level of exploration spending of any region globally.