It is often said that Africa holds close to a third of the world’s known reserves of the minerals essential to the energy transition and emerging industrial technologies. The figure appears so frequently in policy papers and investor decks that it has become almost rhetorical, a shorthand for potential rather than a measure of realised strategy. But that is beginning to shift, at least at a discernibly faster pace.

Over the past year, policymakers across several of the continent’s major producers have advanced new mining frameworks built around local content and domestic participation. The aim is to draw processing and manufacturing capacity closer to the resource, creating beneficiation within national economies and attracting investment into the wider mining ecosystem rather than into extraction alone.

The direction has been welcomed by those who see it as a long-overdue alignment between resource ownership and national development. It remains important to attract capital and create a friendly investor environment for mining and capital-intensive projects.

Countries like Botswana and Ghana have become emblematic of policies and strategies designed to strengthen the mining industry by building national participation, diversifying away from historically dominant commodities, and improving regulatory coherence.

Botswana, for example, is actively diversifying its mining sector beyond diamonds, largely in response to sustained headwinds in the diamond market. Diamonds still dominate the economy, accounting for about 80 per cent of export earnings, one-third of fiscal revenue, and roughly a quarter of GDP, making Botswana the world’s largest diamond producer by value. But policy and investment attention are now shifting toward critical minerals such as copper, nickel, soda ash, salt, manganese, lithium, uranium, and gold, driven by global demand for clean-energy inputs.

Exploration activity in the Kalahari Copper Belt and Tati Greenstone Belt has intensified, increasingly supported by new geological and data-driven techniques, with multinational firms such as BHP and domestic operators committing capital to battery-metal and gold projects intended to move the industry closer to value addition and long-term sustainability.

In October 2025, Botswana’s Mines and Minerals (Amendment) Act No 14 of 2024 officially came into effect, introducing reforms to promote beneficiation and enhance citizen participation in the country’s mining industry. Among its provisions: a 24 per cent citizen equity participation requirement, including a clause that if the State does not exercise its interest, the block must be offered to citizens or citizen-owned companies; and a mandatory environmental rehabilitation trust fund or financial guarantee from a Botswana-registered bank. For investors, Botswana’s trajectory offers a study in how regulatory tightening can coexist with opportunity.

The country retains one of the most liberal financial regimes in Africa, with no exchange controls and straightforward capital repatriation, which simplifies cross-border investment structures. Its political stability and consistent policy execution continue to rank it among the continent’s most reliable jurisdictions for mining capital.

New opportunities are emerging for investors attentive to the ecosystem outside extraction. Skills development and technology adoption are becoming priority areas, with increasing use of AI-driven exploration, digital geological modelling, and automation to improve safety, efficiency, and resource recovery while reducing costs.

The same can be seen in Ghana. Last year, Africa’s top gold producer announced plans to shorten mining licence durations and introduce direct revenue-sharing with local communities – its most far-reaching overhaul of mining law in nearly two decades. The reforms aim to tighten accountability and anchor mining benefits more visibly in local economies. Licences will be time-bound rather than open-ended, with renewal tied to environmental, social, and production performance.

Revenue flows, once centralised, will now be partially redirected to host communities through fixed-percentage contributions, replacing the older system of discretionary development agreements. The framework also proposes a clearer licensing structure for mid-tier operators and a review of stability agreements, aligning fiscal terms more closely with project lifecycles. The other side is the existence of the local content law, which prescribes that certain aspects of mining activities are the preserve of Ghanaian-owned entities. For example, all surface mining contract activities are the preserve of 100 per cent owned Ghanaian companies, and for underground mining operations, ownership must be not less than 30 per cent.

Policymakers are acutely aware of the risk that comes with Ghana’s dependence on gold, which accounts for close to 90 per cent of total mineral export revenue. High prices have shielded the economy in recent years, but they also mask the vulnerability of relying on a single commodity exposed to global cycles and geopolitical shifts. In response, government strategy has turned toward broadening the mineral base. Lithium discoveries in commercial quantities have opened a new frontier, though subdued international prices have delayed full-scale development.

The state has also renewed focus on manganese and bauxite, directing new investment into production and downstream capacity, while exploration for copper is beginning to attract interest from both domestic and international firms. The underlying intent is clear: to use the current gold windfall to finance a transition toward a more balanced and resilient mining economy.

These reforms, combined with a more stable macroeconomic environment, have strengthened Ghana’s investment climate. The recent appreciation of the cedi and the rebuilding of foreign reserves have improved financial predictability, while policy has remained pragmatic and growth oriented. For investors, this signals a jurisdiction where regulation and macro management are beginning to reinforce each other; a market in which both capital and long-term participation can be reasonably protected.

What is unfolding in Botswana and Ghana forms part of a broader continental pattern, and it is being shaped with intent. Last year, the African Union released its Africa’s Green Minerals Strategy, a plan to use the continent’s mineral wealth to drive value addition at source, regional industrialisation, and climate resilience. The strategy recognises that Africa must move beyond raw exports and build integrated value chains that support jobs, skills, and diversified growth.

What stands out is that the continent is not closing itself to global capital in the process. It is making partnership more transparent, access more structured, and alignment with national priorities more deliberate – reshaping the terms of engagement between African resource holders and international investors. For those able to adjust to this new order, Africa’s mining sector offers the chance to participate in one of the most important industrial transitions of the coming decades.

BY THUSO TSEETSE & REINDOLF OFOSU-HENE

The writers: Head of Natural Resources, Botswana and Head of Natural Resources, Ghana at Absa CIB