Key Points
- Experts urge Africa to unify as an economic bloc to gain bargaining power and attract greater mining investment.
- Frans Baleni called for accelerated policy execution and regional integration to close the continent’s delivery gap.
- Dr Marit Kitaw outlined three priorities: deepening regional markets, connecting value chains, and investing in skills for industrialization.
Cape Town Africa’s mineral wealth will only deliver full economic and societal value if the continent acts as a single, unified economic bloc, experts declared at a media briefing yesterday.
The urgent message centered on regional integration as the key engine for growth, ahead of the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2026 conference. The conference theme, “Stronger Together: Progress Through Partnership,” will focus on how Africa can achieve its next decade of mining led expansion through political alignment and cross border collaboration.
Frans Baleni, Chairman of the Mining Indaba Executive Advisory Board, opened the session with a firm call to accelerate policy execution. He noted that while Africa possesses the vision and frameworks, it lacks coordinated delivery.
“Other regions have moved faster. Africa has the vision, frameworks, and ambition now we must close the policy execution gap,” Baleni said. He added that regional integration makes good policy easier, more predictable, and truly investor ready.
Integration Key to Value
Dr Marit Kitaw, an Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations and board member, stressed that Africa’s mineral wealth must translate into shared and sustainable development.
Although most of Africa’s 20 major mineral producing countries have revised their policies around the Africa Mining Vision, Kitaw said the critical point is continental alignment.
“Investors aren’t only chasing minerals they’re chasing markets, corridors, scale, and stability,” Dr Kitaw explained. “A single country cannot secure bargaining power alone. Africa must act as a unified economic bloc.”
She outlined three priorities for Africa’s mining transformation: deepening regional markets and free movement of goods, connecting value chains across borders, and investing in skills and technology to power industrialization.
“We don’t lack frameworks we lack coordinated implementation. Regional infrastructure, energy, logistics, technology, and skills development are the backbone of value addition,” Dr Kitaw stated.
She confirmed that Mining Indaba remains the platform where the continent shifts from aspiration to action.
Forum to Drive Collaboration
Zeinab El Sayed, Head of Government Partnerships at Mining Indaba, highlighted that the 2026 program is specifically designed to drive collaboration across governments and the private sector.
“Integration is the thread connecting mining to energy, energy to infrastructure and infrastructure to manufacturing, creating the scale needed for African competitiveness,” El Sayed said.
She confirmed that the 2026 Ministerial Symposium will convene leaders from South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, D R C, Botswana, Angola, and other nations.
The symposium will showcase real models of cross border collaboration, spanning from shared energy projects to interconnected transport corridors.
Mining Indaba’s Product Director, Laura Nicholson, reinforced that the conference represents a pivotal moment in the continent’s mining future.
She highlighted the need to amplify success stories across the continent, from community participation to downstream industrial growth and infrastructure expansion.
Nicholson noted that the mining sector continues to build the economies, industries, and infrastructure that will enable Africa to stand confidently on its own.
She also mentioned that the conference’s stakeholder universe now includes governments, investors, miners, original equipment manufacturers, communities, youth, and downstream industries, all forming part of a connected value chain critical for Africa’s industrialization.
Nicholson closed with news of a documentary that will premiere at the conference. It captures the world’s deepest underground marathon, an event supported by the I C M M. She said the documentary will challenge outdated perceptions of mining.
“Mining is an industry of innovation, resilience, skills development, and opportunity. This is the narrative we are amplifying Africa’s mining story is one of progress.”
The message from all speakers was unequivocal: Africa has the resources, the policy frameworks, and the continental vision. The next frontier is collective execution through unified action.
