Africa: Guterres calls for an end to the "plunder" of the continent's wealth

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Sunday in New York to break with the "plunder" of the continent's wealth, according to UN News. He noted that Africa is attracting growing investments in critical minerals, solar energy, and technology, but that a large share of these resources is exported in raw form without local processing, depriving African economies of industrial value added. Despite this weight, the continent captures a marginal fraction of the value added from refining, with most processing plants remaining located in Asia, Europe, and North America. This call comes as global demand for critical minerals accelerates with the energy transition, increasing pressure on African governments to negotiate more favorable mining agreements and develop local refining. The African Union and Zlecaf are pursuing local value addition strategies, which are hindered by energy and logistics infrastructure deficits. Every ton of raw mineral exported rather than processed locally represents lost jobs, tax revenues, and technology transfer, as competition among powers for access to these resources intensifies. Repère Sankofa — A piece of mining wealth is not sovereignty: as long as Africa exports its raw materials without processing them, it remains dependent on value chains controlled elsewhere. Local resource processing is, for the editorial team, a non-negotiable condition for true sovereignty...