Tanzania’s Minister for Minerals, Anthony Mavunde, has urged African countries to use their own revenue to fund mineral exploration, processing and refining, saying heavy reliance on foreign money limits what the continent gains from its resources.
He spoke on Oct. 20 while chairing a ministerial session at Mining in Motion 2026 in Accra, Ghana, where ministers discussed how to finance mineral development from exploration through refining.
What Tanzania is doing
Mavunde said Tanzania has set aside 10% of the revenue it collects from mining for detailed geological surveys. He called it a step toward cutting dependence on donors, backed by the political will of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Only about 16% of Tanzania’s land has had detailed geological exploration, he said, which leaves a lot of room for new discoveries and investment.
Under its Mining Sector Vision 2030, called Minerals are Life and Wealth, the government plans to raise the area covered by detailed airborne geophysical surveys from 16% to at least 50% by 2030.
Parliament’s energy and minerals committee welcomed the plan, saying that paying for the surveys with domestic money would also give Tanzania stronger control over sensitive strategic data.
Beyond exploration to refining
Mavunde said financing should not stop at exploration and mining. It should also reach processing and refining, which can create jobs, build technical skills, broaden economic activity and raise export earnings from higher value products.
He pointed to Tanzania’s local content policy as a tool for raising the share of Tanzanians in the mining industry, and to the African Continental Free Trade Area as a way to widen markets and build value chains that link African countries.
A theme running through the week
The conference, held under the theme One Continent, One Voice of Minerals, opened Oct. 19 with a speech by Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, who set out what he called the Accra Reset.
Mahama called for sovereign control over resources through strong institutions, local processing and domestic refining, including home grown gold assaying and refining. He warned African governments against a race to the bottom on royalties and tax breaks to attract foreign capital.
He urged a unified African approach to royalties, fair taxation and local participation. The same message was heard in Cape Town last week at African Mining Week, where Egypt’s deputy industry minister said Africa holds 30% of global mineral reserves but must turn them into industrial development.
Several African governments are already moving that way. Zimbabwe plans to ban lithium concentrate exports from January 2027, and Ghana is expected to replace a draft mining bill after industry pushback over lease terms.
Mining revenue rises and falls with global commodity prices, and a fixed share for exploration competes with schools, roads and debt payments. Tanzania’s 10% earmark is a start, and how it holds up in a price slump is still to be seen.
Mavunde’s message: money and control go together. Whether Africa can pay for its own exploration and refining will decide how much of the minerals boom stays on the continent.
