Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Ali Joho has urged African countries to deepen cooperation to boost mining and attract more investment into the continent’s minerals wealth. Joho made the remarks at the Egypt Mining Forum in Cairo, where he met with mining officials from Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo to discuss investment, mineral processing and building value chains.

In a statement published on his X account on Tuesday, September 29, Joho said African nations needed to move away from fighting for the attention of investors. Build systems to facilitate exploration, processing, infrastructure and value addition.

“The discourse around building competitive mining jurisdictions in Africa is both timely and critical given the heightened competition for mining investment at the global level,” Joho said.

Joho said closer cooperation would enable the creation of competitive mining corridors that integrated mineral deposits with infrastructure, energy, processing plants and downstream markets. Joho’s comments come as African nations gear up to deepen collaboration between mining regulators.

The African Minerals Regulatory Authorities Forum (AFMRA) was launched in Cairo alongside the Egypt Mining Forum to facilitate cooperation and knowledge sharing among mineral regulators, with a view to advancing regulatory reforms. Egypt’s petroleum and mineral resources ministry said the new forum would focus its efforts on mineral laws and regulations, geology, licensing regimes, transparency and mineral resource management.

Egyptian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi said closer cooperation between African mineral regulators would create a conducive environment for investment while enabling countries to maintain control of their resources. The forum’s organisers said they hope to achieve greater regulatory and operational harmonisation of the mining sector across Africa, while respecting national laws and sovereignty.

One of the key issues identified at the forum was the need for African countries to transition from being raw materials suppliers to mineral processors and manufacturers. Participants identified the need to develop downstream value chains, including processing and manufacturing, in mineral-producing countries to create jobs and add value. The push echoes a similar agenda in Kenya, which has been seeking to develop local processing capacities for several years.

Speaking to Joho ahead of the commencement of the forum, Badawi said Egypt was keen to partner Kenya to develop mineral resources, localise the mining industry and add value. Joho said Kenya currently generates about 1 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from mining, compared to the government’s target of 10 per cent. Joho also noted that Kenya had significant rare earth elements and the need to develop downstream industries around them.

The drive towards greater local processing comes as Kenya seeks to attract greater investment into its critical minerals industry while building value addition capabilities. Joho recently revealed that Kenya is in advanced negotiations with the United States on a partnership to develop mineral refineries and processing plants in the country, with some of the finished products destined for the US market. The talks involve the Commerce, Defence and State departments in the US government, Joho said.

Kenya has also identified the Mrima Hill mineral deposit in Kwale County as a priority for exploration. According to geological surveys, the mineral deposit includes niobium and other metals like cobalt, copper and nickel.

Joho has argued that the country’s mineral resources should be leveraged to spur industrialisation rather than simply expanding the mining sector and creating more export earnings.

The deliberations underway in Cairo represent a concerted push by African governments to increase their competitiveness of their mining sectors, while deriving more value from their mineral resources. The Egypt Mining Forum, which commenced on Monday, September 28, attracted delegations from various governments, mining firms, investors and other stakeholders. The event covered a range of topics from exploration to financing, processing and investment.

For Kenya, Joho’s proposals fit within a strategy to build a mining sector that emphasises local processing. The immediate test will be whether regional mining authorities can identify clear areas of collaboration, technical expertise and infrastructure development that enable African countries to intervene in more aspects of the mineral value chain.