Trymore Tagwirei
Zimbabwe and other African lithium-producing countries must accelerate efforts to beneficiate and process the strategic mineral locally if they are to fully benefit from the global clean energy transition, a new report has revealed.
The 2026 Compendium of Africa’s Strategic Minerals Report released by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) says Southern Africa is well-positioned to play a leading role in the global industrial, digital and energy transitions due to its vast reserves of critical minerals.
“Although deposits in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mali are substantial, Africa captures only a fraction of the value beyond extraction,” the report states.
Read More: China deepens hold on Zimbabwe’s lithium resource
Despite the growth in production, AFC warns that lithium processing remains Africa’s weakest link.
“The strategic challenge is to move beyond ore exports by building independent refining and chemical conversion capacity, reducing reliance on external processors and anchoring battery-related value chains on the continent,” the report says.
The report further notes that, as of 2023, no African country was refining lithium concentrates into battery-grade carbonate, hydroxide or chloride.
“Most spodumene and petalite concentrates are exported to China, where vertically integrated producers dominate refining and downstream battery materials manufacturing.
“This leaves Africa capturing only a fraction of the value embedded in its lithium resources,” it said.
AFC estimates that the continent’s share of global lithium mining rose to approximately 11 percent between 2024 and 2025, with nearly 30 percent of new global supply growth in 2024 originating from Africa.
After government suspended the export of lithium concentrates in February 2026, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ), one of the largest lithium miners in the country, on April 27, 2026, PLZ announced that Arcadia had dispatched the country’s first lithium sulphate for export.
This was the first lithium salt to be ever produced not only in Zimbabwe, but in Africa as a whole where countries export predominantly lithium ores and concentrates.
