2027 Agenda

Putting government ambition into direct dialogue with market reality, Ministers will first set out where they see credible opportunities to build regional battery value chains and the partnerships required to deliver them. The discussion will then shift to industry, with leaders from mining, processing, finance and downstream sectors examining whether these ambitions can translate into commercially viable and investable opportunities. This forum explores how Africa can move beyond extraction to build scalable battery mineral value chains. Drawing on progress in copper and cobalt, and emerging opportunities in manganese and graphite, it will examine what is needed to move from ambition to execution. What does it actually take to build battery mineral value chains at scale, not in theory, but in execution?

Bringing together leaders from across the ecosystem, it will examine what the copper-cobalt corridor is getting right and what can be replicated; how manganese and graphite can follow a similar path; and how partnerships across government, mining, capital and downstream industries can unlock the next phase of value-chain growth.

The African proposition:

•  Does regional specialisation, rather than every country pursuing the entire value chain, offer the strongest route to scale?

The market test:

•  If Africa builds it, will the world buy it?