{"id":264673,"date":"2025-10-29T15:52:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T16:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=264673"},"modified":"2025-10-29T18:02:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:02:38","slug":"illicit-financial-flows-drain-africas-mineral-wealth-greenpeace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/illicit-financial-flows-drain-africas-mineral-wealth-greenpeace\/","title":{"rendered":"Illicit financial flows drain Africa\u2019s mineral wealth \u2014 Greenpeace"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>\n

Banele Ginindza<\/p>\n

Africa is losing billions of dollars every year through illicit financial flows (IFFs) from its mineral sector, undermining the continent\u2019s potential to benefit from the global clean energy transition, according to a new report by Greenpeace Africa on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The report, titled “Africa\u2019s Critical Minerals: A Development Lifeline or a New Green Resource Curse?” warns that IFFs have become \u201cincreasingly widespread and complex,\u201d allowing multinational mining companies to avoid paying taxes and depriving African governments of vital revenue.<\/p>\n

It estimates that South Africa has lost more than $10 billion (more than R170bn), while Nigeria loses more than $17bn every year through corporate tax evasion and profit shifting in the extractives industry.<\/p>\n

Citing the African Union\u2019s African Minerals Development Centre, the report notes that since 1980, about $1.3 trillion has left sub-Saharan Africa through IFFs \u2014 60% of it from the resources sector.<\/p>\n

Greenpeace said while the resource curse remains a defining feature of many resource-rich countries, not all are affected to the same degree.<\/p>\n

South Africa and Botswana, for instance, have developed policies to mitigate the worst effects, unlike the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has displayed the classic symptoms of the phenomenon.<\/p>\n

The report highlights South Africa\u2019s vast reserves of manganese and vanadium, two minerals essential to the global clean energy transition. Manganese is a key component in lithium-ion batteries, while vanadium is used in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs).<\/p>\n

Despite this, South Africa exports most of its manganese and vanadium to China, where they are processed into battery materials. Greenpeace said that if South Africa invests in domestic value addition, up to 60 000 new jobs could be created in the battery sector by 2030.<\/p>\n

“South Africa can realise these jobs by increasing battery assembly, increasing the processing of minerals to battery grade and commercially developing VRFB,” it said. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Research indicates that strong government policies (regulations, laws, taxes and tariffs) to support the industry are required, such as a commitment to use utility-scale batteries in national energy systems to boost early development.” <\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond battery production, the report said South Africa has significant potential in renewable energy manufacturing, already assembling solar PV components, wind turbine towers, and related equipment.<\/p>\n

With its strong industrial base \u2014 including mining, automotive, and electro-technical industries \u2014 the country is well-positioned to capture more of the renewable energy value chain.<\/p>\n

Encouragingly, the report notes that Cabinet\u2019s recent approval of the Renewable Energy Masterplan (REMP) could provide the policy certainty needed to unlock industrial growth. <\/p>\n

“The Plan seeks to develop industrial value chains throughout the renewable energy sector in South Africa and should hopefully provide the policy certainty that the sector needs to grow and take advantage of South Africa\u2019s critical minerals,” it noted.<\/span><\/p>\n

The report also raises concerns over the proliferation of bilateral agreements between African governments and foreign powers seeking access to critical minerals.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Dozens of bilateral agreements have already been signed between African states and other countries. For example, South Africa, Zambia and the DRC have committed to at least six bilateral agreements over critical minerals, while China has signed eight bilateral agreements for critical minerals with countries from Sub-Saharan Africa,” the report noted. <\/span><\/p>\n

“This ‘lack of coordination and fragmentation among African countries has played in favour of global superpowers so far’ because African countries are weaker when they negotiate individually.” <\/span><\/p>\n

Greenpeace warns that these deals, often rooted in Colonial-era dynamics, threaten to undermine regional cooperation and perpetuate dependency rather than sustainable development.<\/p>\n

The report acknowledges that several African countries \u2014 including Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique and South Africa \u2014 have introduced local content legislation requiring foreign mining firms to source goods and services locally and employ local workers. However, enforcement remains weak.<\/p>\n

“As with all policies, however, their quality and enforcement are key,” it said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Critics have argued that in some instances local content requirements are unrealistic as some countries lack the local capacities to deliver the required goods and services, meaning that the enforcement becomes \u2018loose\u2019.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Greenpeace concluded that without coordinated policies, strict enforcement, and transparent governance, Africa\u2019s critical minerals could become the centre of a \u201cnew green resource curse\u201d \u2014 enriching global corporations while leaving African economies underdeveloped.<\/span><\/p>\n

BUSINESS REPORT<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Banele GinindzaAfrica is losing billions of dollars every year through illicit financial flows (IFFs) from its mineral sector, undermining the continent\u2019s potential to benefit from the global clean energy transition, according to a new report by Greenpeace Africa on Wednesday.The report, titled “Africa\u2019s Critical Minerals: A Development Lifeline or a New Green Resource Curse?” warns that IFFs have become \u201cincreasingly widespread and complex,\u201d allowing multinational mining companies to avoid paying taxes and depriving African governments of vital revenue.It estimates that South Africa has lost more than $10 billion (more than R170bn), while Nigeria loses more than $17bn every year through corporate tax evasion and profit shifting in the extractives industry.Citing the African Union\u2019s African Minerals Development Centre, the report notes that since 1980, about $1.3 trillion has left sub-Saharan Africa through IFFs \u2014 60% of it from the resources sector.Greenpeace said while the resource curse remains a defining feature of many resource-rich countries, not all are affected to the same degree.South Africa and Botswana, for instance, have developed policies to mitigate the worst effects, unlike the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has displayed the classic symptoms of the phenomenon.The report highlights South Africa\u2019s vast reserves of manganese and vanadium, two minerals essential to the global clean energy transition. Manganese is a key component in lithium-ion batteries, while vanadium is used in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs).Despite this, South Africa exports most of its manganese and vanadium to China, where they are processed into battery materials. Greenpeace said that if South Africa invests in domestic value addition, up to 60 000 new jobs could be created in the battery sector by 2030.”South Africa can realise these jobs by increasing battery assembly, increasing the processing of minerals to battery grade and commercially developing VRFB,” it said. “Research indicates that strong government policies (regulations, laws, taxes and tariffs) to support the industry are required, such as a commitment to use utility-scale batteries in national energy systems to boost early development.”\u00a0Beyond battery production, the report said South Africa has significant potential in renewable energy manufacturing, already assembling solar PV components, wind turbine towers, and related equipment.With its strong industrial base \u2014 including mining, automotive, and electro-technical industries \u2014 the country is well-positioned to capture more of the renewable energy value chain.Encouragingly, the report notes that Cabinet\u2019s recent approval of the Renewable Energy Masterplan (REMP) could provide the policy certainty needed to unlock industrial growth.\u00a0“The Plan seeks to develop industrial value chains throughout the renewable energy sector in South Africa and should hopefully provide the policy certainty that the sector needs to grow and take advantage of South Africa\u2019s critical minerals,” it noted.The report also raises concerns over the proliferation of bilateral agreements between African governments and foreign powers seeking access to critical minerals.”Dozens of bilateral agreements have already been signed between African states and other countries. For example, South Africa, Zambia and the DRC have committed to at least six bilateral agreements over critical minerals, while China has signed eight bilateral agreements for critical minerals with countries from Sub-Saharan Africa,” the report noted. “This ‘lack of coordination and fragmentation among African countries has played in favour of global superpowers so far’ because African countries are weaker when they negotiate individually.”\u00a0Greenpeace warns that these deals, often rooted in Colonial-era dynamics, threaten to undermine regional cooperation and perpetuate dependency rather than sustainable development.The report acknowledges that several African countries \u2014 including Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique and South Africa \u2014 have introduced local content legislation requiring foreign mining firms to source goods and services locally and employ local workers. However, enforcement remains weak.”As with all policies, however, their quality and enforcement are key,” it said.”Critics have argued that in some instances local content requirements are unrealistic as some countries lack the local capacities to deliver the required goods and services, meaning that the enforcement becomes \u2018loose\u2019.”Greenpeace concluded that without coordinated policies, strict enforcement, and transparent governance, Africa\u2019s critical minerals could become the centre of a \u201cnew green resource curse\u201d \u2014 enriching global corporations while leaving African economies underdeveloped.BUSINESS REPORT<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":264675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264674,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264673\/revisions\/264674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}