Mining Indaba 2026 brought together over 10,000 delegates in Cape Town, with a focus this year on creating partnerships and collaboration to drive Africa’s mining future and long-term value creation.
Africa is one of the most resource-rich regions globally, with mineral endowments that underpin local economies and international supply chains across the precious and critical metals spaces.
Key to the theme of partnerships, joint ventures between governments, investors, and communities were key discussion points bringing investors, corporates, and government representatives together to discuss optimal ways to unlock Africa’s mineral wealth and benefit local communities.
National vs. continental approaches to value chains
Mining.com.au sat down with Molebogeng Mazibuko, Associate Vice President and Mining Lead at Africa Finance Corporation to talk about how she sees these crucial partnerships developing.
Mazibuko notes that while she does see agreements between nations developing, across Africa and globally, a nationalist perspective is still holding strong.
“We’re not building value chains and supply chains from a continental perspective. Every country is thinking about value chains and supply chains from a national perspective,” Mazibuko notes.
She argues that we need to start looking at Africa as a whole if we want solutions that will benefit the entire continent. “There’s a lot of fragmentation and misalignment of policies, planning, and strategies from an industrial development perspective.”
While institutions like the African Union are designed to foster collaboration and collective problem-solving, Mazibuko notes that the results on the ground remain limited. “We’re not seeing that alignment materialise in practice.”
Global stakeholder engagement
The US sent its largest delegation yet to Indaba this year, including representatives from a number of government institutions and ambassadors to countries such as Namibia and Zimbabwe.
This representation underscores the US’ evolving priorities in Africa, with an increased focus on securing critical minerals for industrial and national security needs.
Mazibuko notes that the US is more focused on siloed agreements, rather than continent-wide strategies.
“Agreements with the US, EU, or China can often reinforce nationalism rather than encourage a collective voice from the continent,” Mazibuko says.
“If Africa is to truly benefit, we need to harness collective power and ensure our strategies reflect our unique development needs.”
Infrastructure as the backbone of mining ecosystems
Mazibuko also highlights the importance of ecosystem thinking in mining and industrial projects.
“Too many mines fail because they don’t have the right infrastructure in place. We need rail, power, and logistics. You can’t just fund the mine; you need to fund the whole body, including the infrastructure.”
Financing the whole
Mazibuko notes that development finance institutions are beginning to recognise this need, shifting toward funding across the entire ecosystem rather than isolated projects.
“Financial institutions need to sit together and ask: where is development finance needed? Where is commercial funding needed? How do we share the pie so that all of us gain according to our individual mandates?”
It is this alignment, from a financial perspective, that can unlock sustainable growth for the industry.
Africa’s mining future will depend not only on resource endowment but on the continent’s ability to build collective strategies, align infrastructure, and harness partnerships that deliver long-term value for all stakeholders.
Perseus Mining and regional integration
Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) shows how partnerships and ecosystem investment underpin sustainable mining in Africa. With gold mines in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, the company has consistently worked with host governments and local communities to secure long-term agreements that go beyond extraction.
In September 2025, the company received approval from Côte d’Ivoire’s Presidential Decree for the development and operation of the CMA underground project at the Yaouré Gold Mine, as reported.
CEO Jeff Quartermaine noted that the investments the company has made in the project “marks a new phase in our partnership with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire in expanding its thriving mining industry”.
Perseus Mining has built supply chains across West Africa, built around the company’s multi-mine operations in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, with expansion into Tanzania and Sudan. Alongside these operations, significant investment in infrastructure has been done to ensure that ore, equipment, and people can move across borers.
This ecosystem approach integrates the company’s mining operations into a more regionally-focused framework, helping to prevent logistical bottlenecks and cost pressures that can be a challenge to regional miners.
Looking at the continental strategy gap that Mazibuko identified, Perseus’ cross-border operations mean that the company has built supply chains across multiple jurisdictions, demonstrating what a more integrated African mining ecosystem has the potential to be.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au, Perseus Mining
