Justice must guide Africa's energy transition — Former Lands Minister

Delivering a keynote speech at the Ghana Component of the “Justice in critical minerals governance and green transition” programme at the University of Ghana last Monday, he explained that without deliberate policy with justice at its core, the global energy transition risked becoming what he described as another form of resource exploitation.

As a result, Mr Jinapor said when he was sector minister, he led the formulation of a policy that raised royalties on green minerals to a minimum of seven per cent, increased state and Ghanaian participation to a minimum of 30 per cent, and introduced provisions, for the first time in the country's history, for establishing a domestic refinery, alongside Ghana Stock Exchange listing requirements and local content rules.

Relying on Bloomberg estimates, he said the global lithium mining industry was valued at about $11 billion, compared with more than $7 trillion for battery production, a gap he said left African lithium producers capturing only 10 to 15 per cent of the value chain.