As countries and companies compete for critical minerals
in the green energy transition, in which battery metals —
cobalt, graphite, lithium, nickel and manganese — are
crucial, host states in Southern Africa are resorting to export
controls on unprocessed critical minerals.
These are principally intended to bolster the host
state's control over its mineral patrimony, compelling mining
companies to engage in domestic beneficiation.
Criticised by some as "rent seeking" behaviour, export
controls take many forms, including prohibitions on the export of
unprocessed minerals or quotas on the quantities that may be
exported. Most recently, in June the Namibian government approved
the prohibition of the export of unprocessed critical minerals,
including lithium ore, cobalt, manganese, graphite and rare earth
minerals. This follows a similar development in Zimbabwe, which
banned the export of unprocessed lithium in December.
