Africa may possess some of the world’s most sought-after mineral resources, including copper, cobalt, lithium, manganese, gold and platinum-group metals, but its ownership of these resources has not translated into corresponding influence over how much they are worth in the global market.
This imbalance lies at the heart of an emerging debate about the future of metals pricing, particularly as Asian markets expand their influence in global mineral trading, processing, financing and price discovery.
For Dr Comfort Asokoro-Ogaji, Executive Director of Women in Mining Africa (WiM-Africa), the challenge goes beyond producing minerals. It is about ensuring that Africa has a meaningful voice in the commercial systems, institutions and market structures that determine their value.
Speaking at the Shanghai Metals Expo 2026 during a roundtable on “Eastern Pricing 2.0: Integrating Futures, Physical Markets, Industry and Finance for the Next Stage of Global Metals Pricing”, Asokoro-Ogaji argued that Africa must move beyond being a passive supplier of raw materials and develop the capacity to participate more effectively in the global minerals economy.
“Who determines the price of Africa’s minerals, and how much influence does Africa have over the systems through which that value is determined?” she asked, setting the tone for her intervention.
Her question captures a longstanding contradiction in Africa’s mineral economy: despite its considerable resource endowment and strategic importance to global industrial supply chains, the continent often has limited influence over the markets through which its resources are valued and traded.
Beyond mineral ownership
The growing demand for critical minerals, driven by manufacturing, infrastructure development, electrification, new technologies and the global energy transition, has placed Africa at the centre of international competition for mineral resources.
However, Asokoro-Ogaji cautioned that possessing valuable resources does not automatically confer pricing power.
A country could produce substantial quantities of a mineral and still have limited access to the market information, processing infrastructure, financial instruments and commercial networks that influence its eventual selling price.
She noted that the value realised by a copper concentrate producer, for instance, goes beyond the prevailing international benchmark.
Factors such as mineral grade, moisture content, payable metal, treatment and refining charges, impurities, transportation costs and contractual terms all influence the final price.
Without reliable laboratory testing, transparent market information, appropriate financing and access to credible buyers, African producers risk receiving considerably less value than their mineral resources could command.
This, she argued, makes market intelligence, mineral testing, processing infrastructure and trade finance strategic economic capabilities that African countries must deliberately develop.
For the WiM-Africa executive director, the continent’s challenge is therefore not simply to demand better prices but to build the institutional and commercial capacity to negotiate more favourable terms.
“Pricing power cannot be achieved through declarations alone,” she said, stressing that African producers must understand international benchmarks, reduce information asymmetry, improve product quality and strengthen their bargaining positions.
The case for an integrated African mineral market
Another obstacle to Africa’s effective participation in the global minerals economy is the fragmentation of its mineral ecosystem.
Although several African countries have established mineral policies, geological institutions, mining companies, laboratories, regulatory agencies and financial institutions, Asokoro-Ogaji observed that these structures often operate without sufficient coordination.
She called for stronger collaboration among these institutions, arguing that Africa must integrate its mineral ecosystem to become more influential in the markets where mineral values are determined.
She identified five priority areas for intervention.
The first is the development of stronger African mineral market intelligence systems capable of providing reliable and timely information on production volumes, mineral grades, prices, buyers, processing capacity and trading conditions.
According to her, African producers should not continue to operate at a disadvantage because other market participants have better access to critical commercial information.
The second priority is investment in mineral testing, standardisation and traceability.
She maintained that producers must understand the actual quality and composition of their minerals before entering commercial negotiations.
Reliable assays, independent certification, credible traceability systems and consistent quality specifications, she said, are essential to ensuring fairer transactions and improving confidence in African mineral products.
The third is beneficiation and processing, alongside the development of regional value chains.
Rather than relying predominantly on exports of unprocessed minerals, she advocated progressively building the capacity to supply products that meet higher industrial specifications.
However, she cautioned against expecting every African country to establish processing facilities for every mineral, pointing instead to the importance of regional cooperation and shared industrial infrastructure.
The fourth priority is strengthening the relationship between African mineral producers, commodity markets and financial institutions.
Access to working capital, trade finance, secure payment systems, risk-management instruments and credible offtake arrangements would improve producers’ ability to compete in international markets.
The fifth, which she described as equally important, is ensuring that the development of mineral markets is inclusive.
Women must move beyond the extraction chain
For Asokoro-Ogaji, Africa’s ambition to secure greater influence in the global minerals economy must also address the limited participation of women in the higher-value segments of the industry.
Across the continent, women are involved in mining, mineral trading, processing, cooperatives and mining-related services. Yet many face persistent difficulties accessing finance, equipment, technical expertise, reliable market information and formal supply chains.
She argued that the emerging integration of physical markets, futures markets, industry and finance must create opportunities for women-led businesses to participate in the commercial structures that drive the industry.
“Women must participate in value creation, not only extraction,” she emphasised.
She raised questions about whether women-led mining cooperatives could access reliable assay services, obtain transparent international price information, aggregate their production to meet industrial buyers’ specifications and secure financing, processing technology and legitimate offtakers.
These, she noted, were not merely questions of gender representation but fundamental issues of economic participation, competitiveness and market development.
Through WiM-Africa, she said, efforts were being made to establish practical connections between African women-led enterprises and the technologies, market intelligence, industrial networks, research institutions and commercial opportunities required to grow.
A new partnership with Asian markets
The growing influence of Shanghai and other Asian markets in metals trading and processing also presents an opportunity for Africa to reconsider its commercial relationships with major players in the global minerals industry.
Asokoro-Ogaji described Eastern Pricing 2.0 as an opportunity to deepen engagement between African mineral-producing economies and China’s industrial, financial and trading systems.
She, however, stressed that such relationships should extend beyond the purchase of African mineral resources.
She advocated joint initiatives in mineral-market intelligence, laboratory development, processing technology, professional training, responsible sourcing, investment readiness and direct relationships between African producers and industrial buyers.
While acknowledging China’s industrial expertise, processing capacity and access to major metals markets, she noted that Africa also brings substantial mineral resources, developing industrial markets, investment opportunities and a growing generation of entrepreneurs to the partnership.
The objective, she maintained, should be to develop mutually beneficial arrangements that enable African producers to participate more directly in international markets and retain a greater share of the economic value generated by their resources.
She also cautioned against interpreting the emergence of Eastern pricing centres merely as competition with established Western benchmarks.
Rather, she sees the development as an opportunity to build more transparent, internationally connected and inclusive mineral markets in which resource-producing countries can participate meaningfully.
From mineral wealth to economic prosperity
Ultimately, Asokoro-Ogaji’s argument is that Africa’s mineral wealth will remain an incomplete economic advantage unless the continent develops the institutions, industries and commercial capabilities required to translate resource ownership into industrial prosperity.
This requires more than attracting mining investments or increasing production. It demands a deliberate strategy that connects geological knowledge, mineral processing, market information, finance, trade infrastructure and inclusive enterprise development.
For African countries, the emerging global competition for critical minerals presents an opportunity to reconsider their position in international supply chains.
But taking advantage of that opportunity will require governments, mining institutions, private-sector operators and financial organisations to work towards a more integrated and competitive mineral economy.
As she put it in her closing remarks: “Africa has mineral power. It is time we built the market power to match it.”
