Africa must set the terms of ‘green gold’ minerals boom and avoid historical extraction

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Apr 21, 2026 · 838 words · By Ezile Madlala

Resource Curse/Extraction Economics Global Energy Transition Governance and Legal Reform in Africa

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Resource Curse/Extraction Economics

As global demand for transition minerals surges, the continent has a rare chance to turn resource wealth into real power, but only if it strengthens governance and puts communities first.

Claims checked 15

Techniques found 3

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

As global demand for transition minerals surges, the continent has a rare chance to turn resource wealth into real power, but only if it strengthens governance and puts communities first.

Why it matters

Africa is home to the minerals driving the global energy transition: cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese and copper.

Common ground

These are the materials the world now calls “green gold”, the essential ingredients in batteries, electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Black-and-White Fallacy, Selective Omission: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Resource Curse/Extraction Economics story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that African legal systems are making strides?
How does this story connect Resource Curse/Extraction Economics with Global Energy Transition over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-04-21-africa-must-set-the-terms…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 95% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Black-and-White Fallacy 65% confidence

Presenting only two options when more exist.

Why it matters: Recognizing black-and-white fallacy helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Selective Omission 85% confidence

Deliberately leaving out important context or facts that would change interpretation.

Why it matters: Recognizing selective omission helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 5

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 4

help Insufficient Evidence 1

info

Claim 1: “African legal systems are making strides.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided for this claim consists entirely of advertisements or generic service listings (K&E Excavating) and provides no substantive information regarding the state or improvement of African legal systems.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Excellence in excavation across the Northwest. Our experienced team delivers reliable, high-quality results on every project. Get in touch today!
https://keex.net/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Meet our Team of Professionals Longevity and depth of experience describe our K&E management team. Clients and contractors hire us repeatedly for three reasons: our competency, our ability to stay up …
https://keex.net/about/meet-the-team/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — K&E Excavating delivers reliable excavation and site prep services across the Northwest. Get in touch today to start your project.
https://keex.net/about/contact/

schedule

Claim 2: “A mother and grandmother, Mam Fikile Ntshangase was assassinated in her home for resisting the expansion of a coal mine that threatened her community’s water and land.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 3: “New laws on responsible sourcing, environmental oversight and supply-chain transparency are emerging.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was gathered from the search or reference sources to support the claim that new laws on responsible sourcing, environmental oversight, and supply-chain transparency are currently emerging in Africa.

info

Claim 4: “These are the materials the world now calls “green gold”, the essential ingredients in batteries, electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the claim lists materials essential for batteries and EVs, the provided evidence for this specific claim is highly fragmented. The web search results for 'Cobalt' are general informational pages (Wikipedia, Britannica) and do not independently confirm the *entire* list (lithium, nickel, manganese, copper) as being universally called 'green gold' or exclusively essential ingredients in this context, making corroboration difficult. The evidence is not strong enough to corroborate the full scope of the claim.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, produced by reductive smelt…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — cobalt lets you save what you love without ads, tracking, paywalls or other nonsense. just paste the link and you're ready to rock!
https://cobalt.tools/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Feb 26, 2026 · cobalt (Co), chemical element, ferromagnetic metal of Group 9 (VIIIb) of the periodic table, used especially for heat -resistant and magnetic alloys.
https://www.britannica.com/science/cobalt-chemical-element

schedule

Claim 5: “Enforcement remains inconsistent, with regulators constrained by limited capacity and being under-resourced.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 6: “The African Union is exploring continental frameworks such as the African Green Minerals Strategy, which could create a stronger, unified governance architecture, an African counterpart to the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act and the global push for due diligence legislation.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided consists of general Wikipedia articles about the African Union and the continent, but none of the retrieved snippets specifically mention the 'African Green Minerals Strategy' or its direct comparison to the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act. The claim is not corroborated by the evidence provided.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers around 20% of Earth's la…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The current flag of the African Union was adopted at its 14th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, which took place in Addis Ababa on 31 January 2010.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_African_Union

check_circle

Claim 7: “Through radical restructurings and demergers, the century-old giant is effectively unbundling its historic South African identity to refocus on global copper assets, leaving behind a legacy of unfilled social obligations and a measurable decline in local tax revenue.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results detail Anglo American's strategic shift away from diamonds, platinum, and coal, and concentrating on copper. Furthermore, the search results mention proposals involving demerging South African assets (like Amplats and Kumba), which aligns with the claim's description of restructuring and demerging focus.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anglo American plc is a British multinational mining company with headquarters in London, England. It is the world's largest producer of platinum, representing approximately 40 percent of global outpu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo_American_plc

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The British diaspora in Africa is a population group broadly defined as English-speaking people of mainly (but not only) British descent who live in or were born in the African continent. The majority…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_diaspora_in_Africa

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Second Boer War (Afrikaans: Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, lit. 'Second Freedom War', 11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 8: “Africa is home to the minerals driving the global energy transition: cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese and copper.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Africa is a source of minerals critical for the energy transition, specifically naming cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese, and copper, which are used in EVs and renewable energy storage.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Demand for minerals such as lithium, cobalt, copper, and nickel is rising sharply and is expected to quadruple by 2030 as industries shift toward clean technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and…
https://ornoirafrica.com/en/africa-faces-demand-for-critical…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — These include the metals driving the global energy transition – copper, cobalt, manganese, graphite, nickel, lithium and the platinum group metals – as well as a broader suite of inputs used in advanc…
https://www.myjoyonline.com/how-africa-can-turn-fragmented-m…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Collectively called Critical Transition Energy Minerals (CTEMs), cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel and others will lead this charge. These mineral commodities are used in the construction, production…
https://nation.africa/kenya/health/harnessing-africa-s-criti…

check_circle

Claim 9: “From Zambia’s copper belt to the cobalt mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo and SA’s mining towns, the story is painfully familiar.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm the focus on cobalt from the DRC and copper mining in Zambia's Copperbelt. Wikipedia entries confirm copper mining in the DRC's Copper Belt. This represents confirmation from multiple independent sources regarding the named locations and minerals.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Copper mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: Extraction du cuivre en République démocratique du Congo) mainly takes place in the Copper Belt of the southern Katanga Province of the D…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_mining_in_the_Democrati…

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The earliest known human settlements in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo date back to the Middle Stone Age, approximately 90,000 years ago. The first 'states', such as the Kongo, the L…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Democratic_Repu…

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: Industrie minière de la République Démocratique du Congo) is a major global supplier of minerals including cobalt, copper, diamonds…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_industry_of_the_Democra…

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 10: “The One Environmental System (OES) has devolved into a jurisdictional tug-of-war between the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 11: “Water sources are poisoned, farmlands are rendered unusable and families are uprooted.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results report negative environmental impacts linked to mining, specifically mentioning contaminated water sources (mercury, lead, cyanide) and unusable farmlands in Nigeria, and general water supply issues in Ghana, supporting the claim's assertions.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Ghana Water Company’s capacity to supply clean water to some parts of the country has been reduced by 75%. Researchers from the University of Cape Coast say Ghana may have to import water by 2030.…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/25/polluted-river…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Water bodies in Osun State, South West Nigeria have become highly contaminated with mercury, lead and cyanide as a result of illegal mining activity currently going in parts of the state, putting the …
https://saharareporters.com/2022/04/14/contaminated-water-de…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Nigerian Mining Sector. Investigations revealed that illegal mining in Egbetua is often linked to banditry and violence. The absence of regulation has allowed the exploitation of resources without acc…
https://nigerianmining.com/devastating-effects-of-illegal-go…

schedule

Claim 12: “This confusion is compounded by the Draft Mineral Resources Development Bill, which introduces overlapping compliance requirements that even seasoned regulators struggle to navigate.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 13: “Local development remains stunted, even as billions in profits leave the continent, a loss underscored by the recent “slow-motion exit” of Anglo American.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results discuss large investments (China's billions) and the general concept of development funding, while also mentioning Anglo American's focus shift. The concept of stunted local development despite profit outflow is implied by the context of divestment and resource extraction discussions found across the search results.

menu_book

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 14: “Research in the DRC and Ghana shows they frequently face health risks and gender-based violence with little or no institutional support.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 15: “Children drop out of school to labour in informal mining, and women face heightened risks of violence as mining economies distort local power dynamics.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The web search results discuss children dropping out of school and the general issues of artisanal mining, but none of the provided snippets explicitly link the *cause* of the dropout rate or violence risk directly to the 'mining economies distorting local power dynamics' as a singular, confirmed finding across multiple sources. The evidence is suggestive but not independently corroborated for this specific causal link.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2YAAQWFYPQ

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Many artisanal and small-scale miners work informally and face harsh conditions. Here's how the international community can help.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/africasource/integrati…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — “The situation of children dropping out of the educational system in Thailand has been known for some periods of time, with quite a high number of children.
https://en.eef.or.th/2022/11/29/children-dropping-out-of-the…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.