Industrialising Africa | Mining Indaba Insights 2025

In this episode, TDi Responsible Mining Specialist, Elizabeth Arnott, talks to three representatives from different parts of the mining industry, who will all be speaking at the 2025 Mining Indaba in Cape Town, on one of the event's key themes: Industrialising Africa.

The panelists are:
Darias Jonker – Head of Government and International Relations, Americas, Anglo American
Dr Aditya Ramji – Director, Global South Centre for Clean Transportation – University of California, Davis
Ana Hajduka – CEO and Founder, Africa GreenCo

The speakers discuss Africa’s infrastructure potential, how to develop strong downstream economies, the role of public-private partnerships and regional power pools, and what it will take to enable international players to invest in local value addition for critical transition minerals. 

Chapters

• 3:09 What do you think needs to happen to increase investment in midstream and downstream manufacturing to create local value addition for critical energy transition minerals?
• 9:39 Aditya - what opportunities do you think exist to unlock these segments – thinking about battery and vehicle manufacturers, and perhaps drawing on some of your previous experience in the automotive industry?
• 13:37 What role do you think private-sector and state-owned enterprises can or should play to implement local government visions to deliver greater value addition?
• 16:18 Darias, can you speak about successful Brazilian public-private partnership infrastructure models, and how those could potentially be replicated in African countries?
• 20:32 Ana, what are your comments based on your previous experience of public-private partnerships?
• 23:20 Darias, how is the reform of infrastructure projects in Africa already benefitting the mining sector in countries like South Africa and Angola?
• 24:46 Darias, how do you think trade can be encouraged between African countries, and what benefits could this have for value addition?
• 26:17 Ana, could you comment here on the benefits that cross-border energy trade can provide in mitigating localised energy shortages affecting the mining industry?
• 31:08 Can regional power pools incentivise investments in renewable energy projects to help ensure stable electricity supply for mining intensive economies?
• 35:09 What is required for Africa's own energy transition to pick up pace
• 37:21 How can governments across Africa ensure that development is not at the detriment of local communities, particularly in areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, where many communities still don’t have power?
• 40:17 Finally – a question to all of you, what is the one key message that you’d like listeners of this podcast to take away from our conversation today?