transition and lessen its reliance on China. Yet a proposed lithium mine in the region has met with stiff resistance from locals as well as anti-mine activists, who ask why rural villages should be polluted in an effort to clean up cities. Corruption allegations surrounding the mining deal led to the resignation of the country’s prime minister in November 2023. Elsewhere, Greta Thunberg, the world’s most famous climate activist, has joined the opposition against extracting REEs from the north of her native Sweden, in an area inhabited by the indigenous Sami people. Similarly in Arizona, the US’s leading copper state, a proposed mine on land considered sacred to the Apache people, is also being met with resistance from environmentalists and Native American groups. Ironically, the very materials needed for the green transition often cannot be obtained in an environmentally-friendly way. Just as coal extraction, which powered the Industrial Revolution, took a toll on the landscapes it was strip-mined from as well as on the health of the miners who dug it out of the ground, the mining of strategic minerals comes at a cost. Copper, for example, is commonly mined in large, open pits. Smelters that refine ore frequently produce fumes that can be toxic to those living nearby. In 2023, the World Bank and the French Development Agency (AFD) co-published a report titled, “Africa’s Resource Future: Harnessing Natural
Resources for Economic Transformation during the Low-Carbon Transition.” Among the many aspects examined in this 274-page document are the environmental consequences of mining. For example, it’s not just the expansion of timber or agricultural production that causes tree loss. Open-pit mines, for instance, require more vegetation clearance than shaft mining. That’s before even factoring in the clearance needed for roads to connect to these mines to begin with. Though not solely attributed to mining projects, the report noted how sub- Saharan Africa had lost 2 percent of its total forest cover in just 10 years. Besides, deforestation and biodiversity destruction also have an impact on tourism and other economic sectors that attract outside money. The World Bank-AFD report notes that resource extraction and environmental degradation do not need to go hand in hand. Countries can enact (and enforce) environmental regulations that reduce the harmful footprint associated with extraction. Additionally, an increased focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in new projects in the mining sector can also help ensure that Africa’s green transition stays as green as possible. The G in ESG is also especially important. A recent wave of coups in sub-Saharan African countries, the
never-ending fight against corruption and the fact that many of these critical minerals come from politically unstable places increase the risk of investments in the mining sector. Factoring good governance into new projects not only lowers risk, but also encourages more diverse financing. Either ore So what would it take for resource-rich African countries to become major players in the minerals needed for the green transition while at the same time improving the quality of life for their populations? For countries wishing to develop their own one-stop-shop of upstream and downstream mining sector operations, access to financing is one of the biggest hurdles, according to Sheila Braka Musiime, Deputy General Counsel at the World Bank Group, who previously worked as Chief Counsel of the World Bank’s section for African and MENA countries. “Financing is a big constraint and very much linked to that is the issue of debt,” Musiime said. “If we don’t solve the debt crisis, if African countries don’t solve the debt crisis, it’s going to really constrain how much they can do on the continent.” The same holds true for development across all sectors; a country can have great plans for a power plant, water sanitation facility or hospital, but if their credit score is poor, obtaining the money to build these things will be impossible. Just as important as unlocking that financing is where it’s invested; often you can’t build a mine or a mineral refinery
without building all the power lines, water facilities, roads, rail and ports first. Generally, it’s this
If African countries don’t solve the debt crisis, it’s going to really constrain how much they can do on the continent.
Sheila Braka Musiime, Deputy General Counsel at the World Bank Group
Sheila Braka Musiime, World Bank Group, Deputy General Counsel
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