ACCRA: TANZANIA has urged African countries to reduce reliance on foreign aid and mobilise domestic resources to finance strategic mining projects, including mineral exploration, value addition and the development of mineral processing and refining industries.
The call was made by Minister for Minerals Anthony Mavunde while chairing a ministerial meeting on “Financing Africa’s Mineral Future: From Exploration to Refining” during the Mining in Motion 2026 conference in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday.
The meeting focused on how African and international financial institutions can improve access to capital across the entire mineral value chain.
Mr Mavunde said greater reliance on domestic financing will enable African countries to develop their mineral resources, create jobs, build technical skills and increase export earnings from value-added mineral products.
“It is important for African countries to begin by using their domestic capacity to finance the development of the mining sector instead of relying heavily on external funding,” he said.
He said implementing domestic financing strategies requires firm policy decisions, political commitment and collaboration among governments, financial institutions and the private sector.
Citing Tanzania’s experience, Mr Mavunde said the government has established a mechanism to allocate 10 per cent of revenue collected from the mining sector to detailed geological exploration.
He said the initiative aims to expand geological surveys and identify the country’s mineral resources, noting that only about 16 per cent of Tanzania’s land area has undergone detailed geological exploration, leaving considerable potential for further discoveries.
“President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s political commitment to allocating 10 per cent of mining sector revenue to detailed exploration is an important step towards reducing reliance on donor funding and enabling Tanzania to finance the exploration of its own mineral resources using domestic revenue,” he said.
Mr Mavunde stressed that financing the mining sector should extend beyond exploration and extraction to include the establishment of mineral processing and refining industries.
“Investment in these stages can create jobs, develop technical skills, expand economic activities and increase revenue from the sale of value-added mineral products,” he said.
He said Tanzania is also strengthening citizens’ participation in the mining sector through its local content framework, which enables Tanzanian businesses to supply goods and services to mining companies.
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The Minister emphasised the need to increase domestic production of mining supplies and strengthen the capacity of local companies to benefit from business opportunities generated by the sector.
He said Africa’s mining sector requires political commitment, patience and effective strategies to enable countries to finance projects and add value to their mineral resources.
“By strengthening domestic capacity, developing industries and cooperating regionally, the mining sector can become a pillar of industrial development, job creation and sustainable development for the people of Africa,” he said.
Ghana’s Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, urged African countries to strengthen cooperation in addressing challenges facing the mining sector, including limited capital, inadequate infrastructure and energy shortages, as well as the need to increase mineral value addition.
“We need a common strategy that will enable African countries to strengthen their bargaining power in investment negotiations, develop mineral processing industries and protect the interests of communities surrounding mining areas,” he said.
The meeting also discussed public-private partnerships, innovative financing mechanisms and infrastructure investment as important measures for supporting the development of mineral industries.
Regional cooperation and opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) were also highlighted as key to expanding markets and establishing value chains linking African countries.