The frontline of the transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy is not in the Tesla boardroom or an Australian lithium mine. It is in one of the world’s longest traffic jams (50km) on the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is in these African countries that many of the metals essential to new energy technology are being mined, and that the world is currently facing huge shortages of.
Africa supplies two-thirds of the world’s cobalt and has accounted for 80% of global copper output growth in the past three years (i.e. South American countries like Chile and Peru remain the world’s biggest copper producers, but Africa is meeting the world’s recent additional demand).
And Africa’s role as provider of critical metals will only increase over the coming years. Congo expects to increase cobalt production 79% between 2020 and 2025 and Zambia wants to add 1 million tonnes of additional copper production over the next decade.
But right now, it takes more than a month to get these metals from mine to port. And that is a bottleneck that is affecting companies around the world. So just as important as developing new mines will be developing Africa’s transport and port infrastructure. Otherwise the month’s long trip to port could get even longer.
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