The European Union’s efforts to secure critical raw materials from Africa face significant challenges in coordination, investment, and alignment with African industrialization goals, according to a 2026 policy brief by the Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI). The report highlights that while the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) aims to diversify supply chains, current partnerships with African nations remain fragmented and lack binding commitments, limiting their effectiveness in supporting value addition and industrial growth.
Why Are EU-Africa Critical Raw Materials Partnerships Important?
The EU’s push to reduce reliance on a narrow set of mineral suppliers is driven by its Green Deal, Digital Decade, and Clean Industrial Deal, which prioritize industrial competitiveness and the green transition. Africa, home to vast reserves of lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements, is a key partner in this effort. The EU has established bilateral ties with South Africa, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Zambia, and Namibia, alongside projects in South Africa and Zambia, under its Team Europe initiative.
However, these partnerships are often non-binding and focus on geological cooperation rather than industrialization. For instance, the EU’s 2025 commitment to Africa’s African Green Minerals Strategy (AGMS) aims to shift the continent from raw material extraction to refining and processing. Yet, the report argues that current efforts fall short of this goal, with limited investment in processing infrastructure and a lack of demand-side incentives to attract European firms.
What Are the Main Challenges in EU-Africa Mineral Diplomacy?
One major issue is the lack of coordination between EU member states and the bloc itself. The APRI study identified 14 bilateral partnerships between European countries and African nations, but many overlap with existing EU projects, creating fragmentation. For example, Germany’s geological partnership with Angola faces competition from the U.S.-backed Lobito Corridor initiative, which includes support from the EU, Italy, and African development banks.
Additionally, European countries prioritize partnerships in jurisdictions with higher environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards, limiting engagement in regions with weaker regulatory frameworks. This approach risks excluding countries like the DRC and Zambia, which are critical for minerals like cobalt and copper but face challenges in meeting ESG criteria. The report also notes that African stakeholders face transaction costs due to the complexity of navigating multiple European actors.
How Can the EU Strengthen Its Mineral Partnerships with Africa?
The APRI report outlines three key recommendations to improve EU-Africa cooperation:
1. Coordinate the European Offer: Member states should embed their strategies within the Team Europe framework, forming coalitions to structure public-private partnerships. For example, the France-Germany-Italy Joint Communiqué on critical minerals demonstrates potential for greater coordination.
2. Create Credible Demand: The EU must complement supply-side incentives with policies that drive upstream investment, such as long-term offtake agreements and price stabilization tools. The European Commission’s 2025 proposal for price floors on rare earths, discussed at a G7 meeting, is a step in this direction.
3. Focus on Value-Addition Priorities: Resources should target countries and projects where value addition is viable, such as the Global Gateway-funded PanAfGeo+ project in Rwanda and Zambia. This would align with Africa’s AGMS and avoid spreading efforts too thin.
Without these changes, the EU risks falling behind competitors like China, which invested $8–10 billion in African critical minerals in 2023, and the U.S., which pledged up to $30 billion for mineral projects in the Global South. The report warns that fragmented European initiatives could undermine the bloc’s ability to shape a sustainable, equitable mineral supply chain.
What’s Next for EU-Africa Mineral Cooperation?
The 2025 AU-EU Summit in Luanda marked a turning point, with the EU reaffirming its support for Africa’s industrialization goals. However, translating this commitment into action will require stronger alignment with African priorities and a shift from symbolic partnerships to concrete investment. As the EU’s CRMA continues to evolve, the success of its African partnerships will depend on overcoming internal fragmentation and addressing the structural barriers to value addition.
For African countries, the challenge remains balancing reliance on European investment with the need to diversify partnerships and avoid dependency. As APRI concludes, “The EU’s credibility as a partner hinges on its ability to deliver on promises of shared prosperity and industrial collaboration.”
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