The global transition away from fossil fuel in the automotive industry has created a sense of urgency for the price and demand for lithium in the market. 

However lithium-producing African countries such as Zimbabwe and Namibia seek to establish processing and refining industries that will sustain more of the profits gathered from global demand for the battery material.

The Western African governments and international companies are looking to compete with China as the top lithium refiner and leading producer globally, with Africa’s lithium reserves as an opportunity.

In doing this, the African countries have decided to preserve the value of their resources more than they did before by not just mining but also processing them into exportable goods, which is called beneficiation.

According to Namibia’s Mines Minister, Tom Alweendo, “we are going to insist that all lithium mined within the country has to be processed in the country”.

The price of lithium has over doubled, as its production sets to rapidly increase this decade, going from 40,000 tons this year, Africa will seemingly produce 497,000 tons by 2030 looking at the amount coming from Zimbabwe.

Late last year, the Zimbabwean government placed a ban on the exports of raw lithium in a bid to stop the smuggling of lithium ore and prompting mines to process in the country.

According to Winston Chitando, the country’s mining minister, “because of the ban, other investors have come in with