Alhassane Haidara is the head of African Development Bank’s Division in charge of private sector projects in the industrial and services sectors. Alhassane has over 20 years of project and corporate finance experience with leading development finance institutions and commercial bank (AfDB, IFC and Citibank) originating, structuring and executing debt and equity investments in a large range of sectors (manufacturing/industries, natural resources/extractives and infrastructure, petrochemicals, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness, retail, tourism, property development, and private equity) and geographies (Sub Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, South and East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe).
Alhassane holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Darden Graduate School of Business (University of Virginia), an Industrial Engineering degree from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) Liege, Belgium, and a Certificate in Public Financial Management from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Africa’s significant green minerals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and Rare Earth Elements are part of the core enablers of the transport revolution towards low-carbon economic development. The growing demand for electric vehicles and battery storage facilities is driving the demand for these minerals, especially Lithium and Cobalt. This has pushed their processed product prices to astronomical levels and could be a game changer in the economic development of countries endowed with deposits of these minerals. For example, lithium carbonate prices have increased over 10x since 2021. Also, the demand for battery and technology minerals is estimated to increase 500% by 2050 to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies.
For Africa to seize opportunities in the battery and EV sector, this will require funding both in the backward (exploration, mining, services) and forward (e.g., battery and EV manufacturing) linkages development. And this is far beyond what public resources could provide. Private sector, particularly African private sector, investments will be essential for the continent to climb up the ladder in these important value chains.
This side event seeks to identify and analyse the key success factors that will enable Africa strategise to attract investment into the BEV sector towards optimising benefits from the value chain.
Tuesday 07 February 14:00 - 16:00 Level 1 Stage
Special Content
- Regulatory and broader social economic environmental considerations in mining projects
- Managing the locale of the project(s), including associated local community and environmental considerations
- Technology research needed across the mining and energy sector to accelerate projects
- Developing renewable energy ecosystems to support the resilience of electricity supply
- Re-defining ESG for the mining sector: A complex role in the energy transition
Wednesday 08 February 15:30 - 16:15 Roof Terrace
Intergovernmental Summit