Mashatile Warns: Critical Minerals Race Is Pure Geopolitics
On October 17, 2025, South Africa’s Vice President Paul Mashatile issued a pointed warning, declaring that the global competition for Africa’s critical minerals has become “purely geopolitical rivalry.” Speaking during the Africa Energy and Mining Forum in Johannesburg, Mashatile emphasized that Africa’s vast reserves of cobalt, lithium, copper, platinum-group metals, and rare earths are now at the center of the global energy transition and technological transformation. He cautioned that without stronger policy coordination and industrial alignment, the continent risks repeating historical extractive cycle supplying the world with raw materials while remaining excluded from high-value industries.
Africa’s Leverage in a Divided Global Market
Mashatile stressed that Africa’s mineral base provides a unique strategic advantage at a time when global powers are restructuring supply chains to reduce dependence on China. He called for African governments to assert greater ownership, insisting that partnerships with multinational companies must include clear provisions for local processing, employment, and technology transfer. His remarks reinforced Pretoria’s view that critical minerals are no longer just economic assets, they are instruments of sovereignty, diplomacy, and industrial power in a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape.
From Extraction to Empowerment
The Vice President’s intervention reflects a broader African awakening around mineral governance, echoing new initiatives in Zimbabwe, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to boost domestic value- addition. Analysts see Mashatile’s comments as a signal of intent: that South Africa and its regional partners aim to leverage critical minerals not merely as commodities, but as the foundation for a new model of industrial empowerment. As global competition intensifies, his message was clear—Africa must define the rules of engagement, not just supply the raw materials.