Africa’s reserves of critical minerals highlight continent’s strategic economic promise

Africa is home to vast reserves of the world’s critical minerals, rich deposits of cobalt, lithium, titanium, and graphite.

These are indispensable materials for batteries, semiconductors, jet engines, and night vision goggles, which position Africa to shape the future of supply chains, central to advanced manufacturing, and how people live their lives in modern age.

Africa’s population, workforce, and consumer markets are expanding faster than any other region in the world.

“The future of global growth and supply chains will run through Africa. Indeed, in many ways, Africa is ground zero for our shared economic future,” Ben Black, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), stated.

Black, made this known while delivering the opening keynote speech at the Atlantic Council’s ‘Investing in Africa Forum’ on the margins of the 2026 International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings, held recently in Washington, D.C., USA.

According to him, Africa holds the key to the world’s shared economic future. “We see opportunities across the continent to invest in key sectors, energy, technology, infrastructure and logistics, critical minerals, health care, and financial services.”

He further stated that Africa will be central to the success of future global economic growth and supply chains, driven by the continent’s rapidly expanding markets and vast reserves of critical minerals, energy resources, and industrial potential.

According to a media release on its website, the DFC boss highlighted vast critical minerals, population, workforce, and expanding consumer markets among the favourable factors that place Africa at a vantage position ahead of other regions of the world.

He further stated that local manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) would strengthen medical supply security in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

“Developing Africa’s stores of active pharmaceutical ingredients would help diversify critical medical supply chains,” Black stated.

One of the key player in this sector is the multi-million-dollar Emzor’s API facility at the Sagamu Interchange on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, is the first-of-its-kind in Nigeria and West Africa.

The facility has the capacity to produce 400 metric tonnes annually of World Health Organisation/United Nations-approved essential drugs, including antimalarials such as Artemether and Lumefantrine, as well as medicines and medical supplies for critical ailments like Tuberculosis.

Commenting further on Africa’s potential, Black added that, “Energy and transmission infrastructure, would dramatically expand energy capacity and provide a power supply that could support midstream refining outside of China.”

He further underscored the imperative of DFC’s partnerships across Africa, by

investing in partner countries’ economic futures and their people.

According to Black, Africa is a critical market of the future, and a vital partner in the DFC’s effort to structure investments that can transform and improve economic trajectories for entire regions while advancing the U.S.’s strategic interests abroad.

“It’s time to stop talking about Africa’s potential and time to start delivering on its promise.

“By investing in infrastructure, fostering private sector led growth, and advancing regional stability; we can build a future of shared prosperity for Africa’s continued growth and success,” Black stated.

Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC)

Coincidentally, Black’s affirmation was in alignment with the official statement released recently by the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC).

The PVAC statement welcomed investments that strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to produce essential health products locally and improve long-term medicine security.

“Emzor’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) project is relevant to the broader national effort to deepen domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing and reduce structural dependence on imported inputs,” Abdu Mukhtar, National Coordinator of PVAC, said in the statement.

According to him, PVAC’s mandate is to help unlock the healthcare value chain through cross-sector coordination, policy enablement, investment facilitation, technical partnerships, and support for local manufacturing across priority value chains.

“This includes advancing the conditions required for Nigeria to increase local production, create quality jobs, attract capital, strengthen supply resilience, and position the country as a competitive health manufacturing hub in Africa.

“API production is one of PVAC’s priority areas because it sits at the foundation of pharmaceutical self-reliance,” Mukhtar stated.

According to him, the development of local API capacity supports national objectives on medicine availability, affordability, health security, and industrial growth, while also contributing to Nigeria’s ambition to serve regional markets under frameworks such as AfCFTA.

“Within this broader vision, Emzor’s project reflects the kind of industrial capacity expansion that can support national healthcare goals if executed to high quality, regulatory, and market standards,” Mukhtar stated.

He added that Emzor’s focus on local API manufacturing aligns with ongoing efforts to stimulate domestic production, strengthen supply chains, and expand the range of health products and technologies that can be made in Nigeria.

“PVAC therefore recognises the strategic relevance of initiatives such as Emzor’s API project to the sector’s development and to the implementation of the Federal Government’s healthcare value chain agenda specifically, initiatives like the Affordable Diagnostics and Medicines for Malaria Funding model (ADMFm).”

The PVAC boss reiterated that Emzor’s API initiative exemplifies the kind of private-sector leadership PVAC seeks to enable across the pharmaceutical value chain.

“By demonstrating long-term commitment to high-quality local API manufacturing, beginning with antimalarials, Emzor is contributing in a tangible way to national goals on medicine security, industrial growth and regional competitiveness.”

In Nigeria, incentives by global industry leaders and institutions like DFC, coupled with local efforts by the government such as the recent imports tariff reduction on certain goods announced by the Federal Government, to cushion the shocks occasioned by the ongoing unrest in the Middle East, are highly welcome because they are expected to impact on efforts to strengthen local manufacturing and regional sufficiency.

Not only is government’s increasing support for the pharmaceutical industry: zero tariffs, import bans, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) ceiling list, the 5+5 policy, amon others; it serves as catalysts for attracting more foreign direct investments (FDIs) into African continent, as well as boosting investors’ confidence in the local manufacturing of essential drugs.

As proof of the growing sector, publicly quoted pharmaceutical companies on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) have shown results and resilience year-on-year.

For instance, in their full year financials for the year ended 2025, Fidson, Mecure and May & Baker respectively posed significant revenue growth, underscoring investors’ confidence in local drug manufacturing companies, including Emzor.

These wins ultimately deliver long-term ripple effects: national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, job creation, and overall improved quality of lives on the continent.