{"id":61527,"date":"2026-08-27T15:15:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T15:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/?p=61527"},"modified":"2026-08-27T15:15:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T15:15:55","slug":"africa-must-not-trade-its-critical-minerals-for-another-debt-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/press\/61527\/africa-must-not-trade-its-critical-minerals-for-another-debt-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa must not trade its critical minerals for another debt crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Civil society urges governments to disclose resource-backed deals, strengthen mining taxation and protect communities under the Common African Position on Debt.<\/em><\/h3>\n\n

NAIROBI, 27 August 2026 – African governments must not sign away future mineral revenues to meet today\u2019s financing needs, civil society organisations warned at the sixth African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD VI). To prevent such commitments from undermining future public revenues, the civil society groups called for resource-backed loans and related mineral agreements to be publicly disclosed and independently scrutinised.<\/p>\n\n

The call came during a session on \u201cCritical Minerals, Debt and Tax Justice in Africa\u2019s Common Position,\u201d which examined how borrowing tied to mineral exports could affect Africa\u2019s debt sustainability, fiscal sovereignty and long-term development.<\/p>\n\n

Africa holds vast reserves of critical minerals like copper, cobalt, lithium, graphite and manganese that are increasingly important to renewable energy, electric transport and the global energy transition. Civil society organisations said this mineral wealth presents a historic opportunity for African countries to build industries, create decent jobs, strengthen public services and finance their own development. Yet many resource-rich countries continue to face high debt, poverty and inequality.<\/p>\n\n

For governments struggling to access affordable finance, resource-backed loans can appear attractive because they provide immediate funding, often for infrastructure, in exchange for repayment through future commodity exports or revenues. But participants warned that such arrangements can carry long-term costs, particularly when they are negotiated without sufficient transparency and safeguards.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cAfrica’s minerals should finance development by powering green industrializations, creating decent jobs, strengthening public services and generating the revenue needed to improve people\u2019s lives. By using future mineral wealth as collateral for short-term borrowing risks repeating an old pattern: value leaves the continent, while African countries are left carrying the debt, inequality and the environmental costs. The energy transition must build Africa\u2019s sovereignty, not mortgage it.\u201d said Koaile Monaheng, Global Political Lead, Greenpeace Africa.<\/p>\n\n

Participants said implementation of the Common African Position on Debt should include clear continental principles for borrowing linked to natural resources. These should promote transparency and public accountability, while requiring governments to assess the long-term fiscal, environmental and social consequences of proposed agreements.<\/p>\n\n

They also stressed that debt justice cannot be separated from tax justice. African governments, they said, must ensure mining companies pay their fair share of taxes and close loopholes that allow profits and public revenues to leave mineral-producing countries.<\/p>\n\n

Without fair taxation and greater domestic value addition, Africa risks remaining an exporter of raw materials while higher-value processing, technology, profits and jobs remain concentrated elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n

Further, the civil society called on African governments to:<\/p>\n\n