Petroleum Minister Urges Africa to Shift Toward Value-added Mining

Africa must move beyond exporting raw minerals and instead focus on value-added processing to unlock jobs, industrial growth and long-term development, Egypt’s petroleum minister has said.

Speaking at a roundtable titled Africa: Unlocking Infrastructure Funding for Copper Belt Production during the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, emphasised the need for the continent to transform its vast mineral endowment into higher-value exports.

The discussion centred on the role of public-private partnerships and innovative, risk-mitigating financing structures to support mining and related infrastructure development, according to a statement from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

Badawi highlighted a series of reforms underway in Egypt to modernise and attract investment into the mining sector. These include restructuring the Mineral Resources Authority into an independent economic entity to improve efficiency, rolling out a new package of incentives for investors, and launching a nationwide aerial survey to digitise geological data.

He also pointed to the completion of the Egypt Mining Portal, a one-stop digital platform designed to simplify licensing, data access and investor engagement across the sector.

Beyond domestic reforms, Badawi said Egypt is actively promoting joint mining ventures and positioning itself as a gateway for investment into Africa, leveraging its strategic geographic location, developed logistics infrastructure and accumulated technical expertise.

He reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to sharing its experience in cross-border mining infrastructure development, stressing that stronger regional collaboration is essential to advancing continental integration and ensuring Africa captures greater value from its mineral resources.

According to Badawi, shifting toward value-added mining is not only critical for boosting export revenues, but also for supporting industrialisation, creating skilled employment and strengthening Africa’s position in global mineral supply chains.