The five countries brought into the fold of creating investment opportunities for Japanese companies in the mining sector include Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In Angola, Zambia and the DRC, the central premise was aimed at advancing exploration and mining activities in cooperation with JOGMEC through scope of work agreements. The three countries are connected by the Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium, a Central African railway project to open access to remote critical materials. JOGMEC and METI re-vitalised a February 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the DRC to support exploration and environmental monitoring in the country. The DRC is a key source of copper and cobalt supply out of the Central African Copper Belt, but ESG concerns have been part of efforts to re-engineer battery cathode formulations to lessen the demand growth for DRC cobalt.

In Madagascar, Japan has a foothold on critical materials through the Sumitomo Corporation JV Ambatovy plant, where nickel-cobalt concentrates from the Ambatovy Mine are converted into nickel and cobalt briquettes.

In Namibia, JOGMEC and METI are already invested in Namibia Critical Metals’ Lofdal rare earth project, a heavy rare earth deposit with key resources of dysprosium and terbium required in electric vehicle drivetrain motor magnets. The new scope of work agreement signed with Namibia is to jointly explore for new rare earth deposits starting off with remote sensing. The agreement includes the evaluation by JOGMEC on Namibia’s potential as a rare earth hub in Southern Africa and building a supporting separation facility. Namibia recently introduced an export ban on unprocessed critical minerals after cabinet approval, which included rare earths, so the evaluation may go hand in hand with establishing a viable foothold.

Japan’s downstream economy is reliant on imported raw materials and the country has already established supply chains to begin its diversification away from China. With competition from major economies brewing in the race to secure critical materials, can African countries overcome entrenched challenges to benefit from the energy transition opportunities?

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