It is expected that mines across the continent will increase production of lithium by more than 30 times from last year’s volume by 2027, media has reported, citing forecasts by the S&P Global Commodity Insights agency.
According to the agency, such an increase is attributed to large foreign investments that will be attracted to the industry in several African countries. It was noted that within a period of about 4 years, the export of lithium raw materials from Africa will reach 12% of the world's overall supplies, up from 1% in 2022.
Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe are expected to become the largest suppliers of lithium on the continent.
Rare-earth elements such as lithium, cobalt and nickel are essential for battery production. China and the United States are actively investing in the development of these metals in Africa. In particular, the agency noted, Chinese companies own several mines in Zimbabwe, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Ethiopia.
"Chinese investment in Africa is definitely the largest source of capital for battery material supply in recent years," Martin Jackson, London-based head of battery raw materials at CRU Group, told media.
According to Jackson, investing in new regions is crucial for China's supply chain to keep up with demand from its manufacturers.
At the same time, countries such as Zimbabwe and Namibia, following the example of other states across the world, already started to introduce restrictive measures on the export of lithium ore. In December last year, Zimbabwe imposed a ban on raw lithium exports in an effort to combat smuggling and promote domestic lithium processing. The country's government announced that it was losing €1.7 billion by exporting the mineral unprocessed.