Description
identification and development of a pipeline of large-scale and comprehensive industrial policy and private sector operations supporting critical mineral-led industrialization in the SADC region, with an emphasis on green and inclusive aspects
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12.Capacity Development, Governance, Natural Resource and Knowledge Management |
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The African Development Bank (“AfDB” or “the Bank”) is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries or RMC). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2024 – 2033) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas, all of which will accelerate the Bank’s delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely Energy, Agriculture, Industrialization, Regional integration, and Improving the quality of life for the people of Africa
The Vice Presidency for Private Sector, Infrastructure, and Industrialization is central to the Bank’s mission of developing the private sector, improving infrastructure, and accelerating industrialization. The role of the Bank’s Industrial and Trade Development department (PITD) is to promote the Industrialization priority area. The department leads the Bank’s activities in the area of industrial and sector policies, ICT and 4th Industrial Revolution, trade and investment climate, and private sector investments in industry and services. The Industrial Development, Trade and Investment Climate Division (PITD1) intends to launch an Economic Sector Work on mineral beneficiation in the SADC region, including the following countries: Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia and Zambia.
Like most of resource-rich countries of Africa, the SADC region countries lag behind in terms of industrial development and structural transformation. At a time when critical minerals emerge as a key input of the fourth industrial revolution and the green transition of the world economy, these countries have an unprecedented opportunity to become suppliers not of raw minerals but of smelted, refined or processed minerals, with the local private sector capturing increased added value and generating sophisticated employment. In the new TYS 2024-2033, the Bank acknowledges the potential of minerals beneficiation, placing it among the top priority sectors supporting industrialization in the decade to come.
While the potential of critical mineral-led industrialization in the SADC is enormous, reflecting the large natural resource endowments of the region, the establishment of beneficiation value chains is not small challenge. Within a context of important infrastructure, skills and regulation gaps, which hinder investments and self-discovery dynamics in the upstream and downstream segments, State intervention is required to correct market failures and to establish enabling conditions incentivizing private sector diversification, upgrade and innovation. Moreover, the cross-cutting dimension of mineral value chains competitiveness, which relies on a wide variety of factors and capabilities (infrastructure, human capital, technology, among others), calls for a holistic approach involving public-private coordination and regional cooperation, aimed at laying the foundations for catalytic transformation of the sector. These challenges require a reflection on the best industrial policy approaches and instruments, based on the identification of realistic opportunities. |
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The study will address the problem of mineral beneficiation in the SADC, mapping the main opportunities in four countries – Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and Zambia – and assessing their status through business cases informed by international lessons learned and industrial policy recommendations, with a focus on green and inclusive solutions with measurable outcomes that will be defined through an assessment framework (e .g., local content, environmental footprint, value added products, etc.). This work will also be an opportunity to assess the alignment between national and regional approaches and policies, and to make concrete propositions to foster the regional industrialization of minerals. The main expected outcome is the identification and development of large-scale and comprehensive industrial policy and private sector operations supporting critical mineral-led industrialization in the SADC region, with an emphasis on green and inclusive aspects. As such, the ESW will serve as a background document for the Bank’s business development strategy in the region.
The methodology will consist of 1) desk review (industrial policy of mineral beneficiation literature review, collection of existing studies and report for each country); 2) field and remote interviews and consultations with the mining and industry stakeholders of each country (government, private sector operators, associations, development partners and civil society organizations); An analysis of the critical minerals value chains, especially components, that can be produced in the region by considering both existing and required capacities (skills, firms and infrastructure). (3) Benchmarking – desk review and consultations on countries that have already developed critical mineral-led industrialization strategies and collaborations with the private sector. |
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The consulting firm will produce a research report comprising the following key deliverables:
1. Inception report outlining, methodology, key milestones and timeline for the assignment, along with initial assessment of any potential implementation challenges and proposed solutions. The Inception report will be submitted within two weeks of the start of the project.
2. Introductory discussion paper on the global and regional minerals beneficiation sector and rationale for fostering investments in the sector (market evolution analysis, emerging technologies, governance models and development potential of minerals value chains, new geopolitical and geoeconomics contexts and their implications in terms of trade and investment strategies for the SADC countries, etc.).
3. Overview report on the focus countries minerals beneficiation situation (market and reserves overview, governance models, spatial analysis, structure of the operating actors, critical assessment of their extractives beneficiation policy and gap analysis of their alignment with the regional and continental policy framework , identification of projects under development, etc.). The chapter will also include some global benchmarks highlighting success stories, good practices and constraint-based innovations in the field of mineral beneficiation.
4. Based on the results of deliverable 2 and 3, design of an outcomes assessment framework against which value chains opportunities and projects will be assessed (e.g. jobs creation, skills, value added, etc.). The framework will be comprised of key indicators reflecting development objectives associated with minerals beneficiation, as evidenced in other geographies and as defined by the Bank and the focus countries.
5. Identification report of a multi-phase (short, mid-term and long-term periods) pipeline of projects and their business cases for public, PPP and private investments in the minerals beneficiation sector in the four focus countries as well as at the regional scale, based on feasibility multi-criteria assessment (including social and environmental aspects) and a prioritization exercise of realistic opportunities in the upstream, side stream and downstream segments of the identified value chains. The business cases will outline the main challenges and areas of interventions (regulation, infrastructure, industrial policy instruments, etc.) in which governments, private stakeholders, civil society organizations and development partners could cooperate, providing operational orientations and evidence-based options to feed policy dialogue.
6. Final report combining and summarizing the findings of the first four deliverables, aimed at guiding the Bank’s strategic engagement in the sector, with a focus on fostering the transition from raw exploitation towards the beneficiation of minerals in the region, as well as a short policy brief targeted at decision-makers to improve uptake. Before finalization, the author(s) of the study will participate to a stakeholder validation workshop for the draft final report. A PowerPoint presentation on key aspects of the study which can be used for communications and advocacy |
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| D. Duration and Timetable for the Assignment | |
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The duration of this contract is 6 months. The expected starting date is November 17, 2025 |
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| E. Bank Contribution and Institutional Arrangement | |
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The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Bank’s coordinator of the study, based in the Industrial and Trade Development Department in the Southern Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office. The coordinator will act as the liaison between the consultant and the supervision committee, which is composed of country economists from the Country Economics Department and specialists from the African Natural Resources Management and Investment Center (ECNR). |
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The Consultant will work from headquarters with field missions in the four focus countries |
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Consultancy Input Days
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