The African Development Bank is in talks with Asian companies to create partnerships to increase the amount of critical minerals processed in African countries before being exported, an official told Semafor.
Solomon Quaynor, an AfDB vice president, said bank officials had visited battery producers in India, Japan, and South Korea in recent months to discuss offering capital in return for the companies helping develop processing capabilities in African countries where raw materials are located.
Quaynor, who spoke on the sidelines of the Africa Debate conference in London, said the aim was “to see how we can support them in making such an investment locally” in order “to do the value addition in Africa.”
African countries have some of the world’s largest deposits of critical minerals used to produce rechargeable batteries, such as lithium, cobalt, and copper, and are seeking ways to move beyond solely being commodity exporters.
