New York, USA — South Africa is proposing a dedicated Critical Minerals Investment Platform and a South Africa-USA Critical Minerals Working Group to turn growing interest in the sector into concrete investment, processing and manufacturing projects.
Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau said the mechanisms would help match South African critical minerals projects with US industrial demand, financing, technology and long-term offtake agreements.
Tau was addressing a high-level Critical Minerals Roundtable hosted by Brand South Africa, in partnership with Standard Bank, on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday.
He said South Africa wants to move beyond discussions about its mineral wealth, and towards partnerships that would build resilient supply chains, deepen industrial cooperation and create greater value from the country's resources.
“We value this opportunity because the conversation we need to have today is not simply about minerals. It is about how South Africa and the United States can build more resilient supply chains, deepen industrial cooperation, mobilise investment and create greater value from the resources that South Africa possesses.”
Moving from extraction to value addition
Tau said South Africa does not want its relationship with the US to be defined simply by the extraction and export of raw materials.
“Our objective is to use this resource base to build durable industrial partnerships. We do not want to define the relationship simply as one in which South Africa extracts and exports raw materials. We want to build value chains that include mining, refining, processing, advanced materials, component manufacturing and, where commercially viable, downstream production,” he said.
South Africa's Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy, approved by Cabinet in 2025, places local processing and beneficiation, infrastructure, research and development and strategic partnerships at the centre of efforts to maximise the value of the country's mineral endowment.
Tau said the country has a strong proposition, including significant reserves and production capabilities in platinum group metals, manganese, chromium and vanadium, alongside opportunities in rare earth elements, titanium and zirconium.
Building a mutually beneficial partnership
The Minister said the US is seeking secure and diversified sources of critical minerals, while South Africa needs investment, technology, skills, long-term offtake commitments and market access.
“This creates the basis for a partnership in which both countries address a strategic economic need. South Africa can contribute mineral resources, processing capability, industrial infrastructure and access to regional value chains, while US companies can bring capital, technology, markets, industrial expertise and long-term demand,” the Minister said.
He said the proposed partnership should, therefore, be based on co-investment rather than a traditional supplier relationship.
Tau identified potential areas for value addition, including battery materials; vanadium products and electrolytes for grid-scale energy storage; platinum group metal-based products for the hydrogen economy; green iron and steel; ferroalloys; specialised metals; grid and transmission infrastructure, as well as emerging rare earth, titanium and zirconium value chains.
The emphasis, the Minister said, must be on projects that are commercially viable and capable of being financed, built and integrated into global markets.
Investment platform to take projects to implementation
Tau proposed the establishment of a Critical Minerals Investment Platform through which priority projects could be assessed for development support, co-funding and investment.
The platform could bring together South African institutions, including the Industrial Development Corporation and other development finance institutions, with US institutions such as the Development Finance Corporation, EXIM Bank, private funds and strategic corporations.
“The objective should be to move projects through the investment pipeline - from project preparation and technical assessment, through financing and construction, to production and export,” Tau said.
He said long-term offtake agreements could also help strengthen the bankability of projects by providing secure demand for minerals or processed products.
Proposed SA-USA working group
Tau also proposed a dedicated South Africa-USA Critical Minerals Working Group to take the discussions forward.
“I would also like to propose that we establish a South Africa-USA Critical Minerals Working Group as a practical mechanism for taking this conversation forward.”
The proposed working group would identify priority minerals and products, match South African projects with US industrial demand, identify financing and technology requirements, address market-access issues and monitor progress towards investment and offtake agreements.
“Our intention is that the work should begin immediately and should not become another dialogue mechanism without implementation. We need clear priorities, responsible institutions, timelines and measurable outcomes,” Tau said.
The proposal comes as South Africa steps up efforts to translate its critical minerals endowment into industrial development, with government policy focused on beneficiation, localisation, infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.
Regional value chains
Tau said South Africa could also serve as an anchor for a wider Southern African critical minerals platform.
He pointed to complementary resources in the region, including cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo, copper from Zambia, lithium from Zimbabwe and graphite from Mozambique.
“South Africa can contribute processing capability, logistics, financial services, industrial infrastructure and access to the wider African market through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” he said.
Tau said regional cooperation could enable countries to develop value chains rather than simply exporting unprocessed minerals from the continent.
The regional approach aligns with SADC's industrialisation agenda, which includes the development of regional value chains in critical minerals beneficiation, alongside infrastructure development in energy, transport, logistics, water and ICT.
From conversations to concrete projects
Tau said the roundtable should serve as a starting point for identifying specific investment opportunities.
“We want to move from conversations about opportunity to discussions about specific projects, specific investors, specific technologies, specific offtake requirements and specific financing solutions.”
He said South Africa wants to work with US companies seeking secure sources of critical minerals and industrial inputs, as well as investors prepared to participate in processing, manufacturing and infrastructure.
“The partnership we are proposing is therefore about more than minerals. It is about building resilient supply chains, supporting industrialisation, creating jobs, developing skills and establishing South Africa as a reliable participant in the next generation of global value chains.”
The engagement brought together senior representatives from business, finance, development finance and strategic sectors, including Standard Bank, the Industrial Development Corporation, Bank of America, the B20 South Africa Secretariat, Eskom, Africa Rainbow Minerals, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and MTN.
The programme was led by Brand South Africa Chairperson Ipeleng Selele, with Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala delivering a presentation on financing critical minerals and unlocking capital for Africa. – SAnews.gov.za
