A lot has changed over the past decade since GBR completed its first edition of MACIG (2014), but if we are to paint Africa in large brushstrokes for a generalized overview, the continent is probably riskier today than it was a decade ago. If exploration is an inherently risky business, with less than 1% of exploration projects ending up becoming a mine, why add to the risks by doing it in Africa?

There are over 600 mining projects in Africa’s pipeline, according to SRK Consulting, far fewer compared to Canada or Australia. However, counting the world’s resource endowment tells a different story, and that is that Africa holds 30% of the earth’s valuable minerals. That makes the continent a top contender for securing the world’s growing mineral supply.

It is said mining is a patient industry. Current demand projections are not. The pace of mineral demand and the consequences of not meeting demand force the industry to act fast and take more risks. Mining cannot afford to be a patient industry anymore. The scramble for supply drives miners back to geological credentials, and therefore to Africa, the world’s most resource-abundant continent. According to the IMF, Sub-Saharan Africa could produce US$2 trillion of metals required for the energy transition by 2050.

Africa boasts some of the world’s biggest mines across the mineral spectrum, but who will finance these projects is the big question. Following a lull in investment after the pandemic, China has revitalized its efforts in Africa, investment growing 114% in 2023 versus the previous year. China’s continued inroads into Africa is a defiance to the US and other countries efforts to counterbalance the Eastern monopoly of supply. A higher appetite for risk, traditionally expressed by China and now gradually matched by the West, could bode very well for Africa’s interests.