Saudi Arabia’s Strategic Push Into Africa’s Critical Minerals Sector
At January’s Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman delivered a statement that crystallised the kingdom’s strategic rethink: “Oil is no longer the energy security challenge — it’s going to be gas, electricity and predominantly minerals.”
It was a revealing admission from a country whose vast wealth was built on oil. Under Vision 2030 — Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s sweeping economic diversification blueprint — Saudi Arabia is pursuing goals that depend heavily on critical minerals: electric vehicles, solar power, battery storage and a raft of emerging technologies.
The kingdom has set a target of 30% of new car sales being electric by 2030, with plans to produce 500,000 EVs annually. It aims for 50% of electricity generation from renewables under the Saudi Green Initiative, which has seen more than $186 billion invested in sustainable projects so far.
Why Africa Matters
Africa hosts an estimated 30% of the world’s proven critical mineral reserves — approximately 55% of global cobalt, nearly half of manganese supply, and over 20% of natural graphite. For Saudi Arabia, which already has $2.4 trillion in estimated domestic unexploited mineral wealth, the question is not supply per se but securing reliable, diversified foreign sources to complement its own deposits.
Regional rivals have moved first. The United Arab Emirates — which signed a $1.9 billion deal with the DRC’s state mining company Sakima in 2023 to develop four critical mineral mines, and completed a $1.1 billion investment in Zambia’s Mopani Copper Mines — has become by some measures Africa’s largest single investor.
Saudi Arabia is now following suit. In June 2023, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) — managing approximately $925 billion in assets — expressed interest in investing in the DRC’s critical minerals via state mining company Maaden. The following year, Saudi Arabia signed MoUs with the DRC, Egypt and Morocco at the Future Minerals Forum to explore cooperation in mineral wealth. Manara Minerals — a joint venture between PIF and Maaden — was subsequently launched with a global acquisition mandate, though its only completed deal so far is a 10% stake in Brazil’s Vale Base Metals.
The Saudi Advantage
Samuel Ramani of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) tells African Business that Saudi Arabia “really wants to present itself more muscularly in broader critical minerals supply chains” and that its combination of domestic reserves and foreign investment firepower gives it an edge over regional competitors.
“Critical mineral sourcing, renewable energies, electric batteries, AI — all these things are central to the Vision 2030 project,” Ramani noted. “Saudi Arabia needs to make sure that it has both indigenous and foreign reliable supply chains.”
The IMF estimates that critical minerals could increase Africa’s GDP by 12% by 2050 if the continent manages to move beyond raw extraction and build processing capacity locally — something that will require exactly the kind of long-term, patient capital that Saudi sovereign wealth funds are designed to provide.
Opportunity and Risk for Africa
The lesson many African governments are drawing from the Saudi experience is about governance. “What we know about the Saudis in their ability to steward the development of a petroleum sector is that they have been very successful,” said Sheila Khama, former CEO of De Beers Botswana. “There is an opportunity for peer learning.”
Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical positioning — balancing strong US security ties with growing China economic relationships, and as a BRICS member since 2023 — also makes it an attractive “hedge partner” for African governments navigating a multipolar world order.
Whether that partnership translates into minerals wealth that benefits African populations, rather than simply enriching elites and foreign investors, will depend on the regulatory frameworks African governments are willing to negotiate and enforce.
Photo: Critical minerals and mining — Wikimedia Commons (CC BY)