Bright Simons urges Africa to align mineral policy with industrial needs

Bright Simons, Honorary Vice-President of the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, has urged African nations to define their critical mineral priorities based on domestic industrialization needs rather than the strategic requirements of global powers like the United States or China.

Speaking at the Students and Young Professionals African Liberty Academy in Accra, Simons argued that policymakers should look beyond minerals central to the global energy transition, such as lithium and cobalt, and instead focus on materials necessary for building local infrastructure, including power plants, railways, and factories. He suggested that aligning mineral policy with specific economic transformation goals would better identify where investment in exploration and processing could yield the highest value.

Simons also cautioned against pursuing resource nationalism without rigorous economic analysis. Using Ghana’s gold sector as an example, he noted that while domestic refining is politically popular, it is a low-margin business that has historically faced implementation failures. He warned that without addressing the technical and financial complexities of such policies, nations risk repeating past mistakes where nationalization led to decreased production.