Introduction
The Critical Minerals Information and Knowledge Hub (C-MINK) is an initiative of UNU-INRA and is facilitated by IIED’s law, economies and justice programme, working with national governments, research institutions, CSOs, and regional bodies. In addition to UNU-INRA’s knowledge-brokering role and ECA’s long-standing authority and intellectual leadership in economic policy research and regional integration, the AUC’s leadership anchors C-MINK in Africa’s political economy, ensuring that the continent moves from fragmented responses to unified strategic action. C-MINK is a demand-driven knowledge platform that empowers African governments and institutions with strategic knowledge, policy support, and market intelligence. Its mission is to transform Africa’s critical minerals sector from a narrow extractive model into a driver of green industrialisation, regional economic growth, and equitable global trade. By strengthening Africa’s bargaining power, C-MINK will enable the continent to engage in minerals markets on equal footing—assertively negotiating terms, setting prices, and moving beyond the legacy of passive market participation. The AUC and ECA's leadership are essential in establishing the governance architecture needed to translate Africa's mineral endowments into shared prosperity, and C-MINK is designed to support that continental effort.
The C-MINK breakfast meeting, scheduled for 12 September 2025, on the margins of ACS2, will be attended by 10-25 high-level officials (ECA, AUC, AMDC, Country Reps etc), and is jointly organised by UNU-INRA and ECA.
C-MINK Value Proposition
Africa’s vast critical mineral wealth has conferred an important geo-strategic advantage to the continent and given it a unique position at the heart of the global transition. Hence, Africa is at vantage point where its natural resource endowment puts it in the driving seat to leverage both its industrial and economic transformations. Nonetheless, there are serious risks that this potential will not be realized if gaps in governance and imbalances of power persist. Minerals like lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements are essential to renewable energy technologies, yet the continent has not benefitted from decades of extraction, often being locked in enclave economies where only a few people have benefitted from such wealth. At its core, C-MINK is more than a knowledge initiative—it transforms insight into strategic foresight and lays the groundwork for strengthening Africa’s leadership in the governance of its mineral wealth. In doing so, it positions the region to craft a distinctly African voice in the emerging global architecture of critical minerals. C-MINK will serve as a self-sustaining, African-led knowledge ecosystem that empowers African countries to govern and manage their critical minerals sustainably. By directly addressing persistent information gaps and asymmetries of knowledge, the platform will support the creation of global public goods that counter prevailing trends of unsustainable and extractive resource exploitation for private gain. C-MINK will align with and amplify the efforts of regional institutions and partners working toward a just transition, ensuring that Africa leads in setting the terms of engagement in this new energy future. Using knowledge as its main vector, it will engage key stakeholders across the public, private, and academic sectors to facilitate knowledge exchange aimed at risk management and informed negotiation in the face of rapidly evolving global dynamics.
Background
We live in an increasingly complex and unpredictable world, one that is challenging us to rethink and possibly redraw the rules of trade, investment, and power. The race towards access to critical minerals, driven by the energy transition, has exposed the vulnerabilities of old models and opened a window to new thinking. In this context, C-MINK (Critical Minerals Information and Knowledge Hub) positions itself as a response to current geopolitical shifts and rapidly changing dynamics in the critical minerals ecosystem. This is a moment that demands more than reactive policy-making. Big decisions are being made by global power centres (China, the US, the EU), while Africa risks once again becoming the terrain upon which external interests compete. C-MINK steps in to provide African states with the intelligence, coordination, and narrative power to engage differently, not just as participants, but as rule-makers in the green economy. The Hub offers not only data and analysis, but a means to craft a new knowledge architecture, one that disrupts the extractive status quo and positions Africa to define its own terms of engagement. In the context of today’s shifting geopolitical landscape, C-MINK (Critical Minerals Information and Knowledge Hub) positions itself as a bold effort to break the mould of extractive knowledge and passive economic engagement. From the outset, this platform seeks to establish a self-sustaining, African-led knowledge ecosystem, using knowledge not just as an instrument for analysis but as a transformative tool for dismantling outdated models of resource governance. By equipping countries with the foresight and frameworks to manage their own transitions, C-MINK supports a generational opportunity to redefine how critical minerals are leveraged for sustainable, inclusive development. C-MINK is a demand-driven knowledge platform explicitly designed to strengthen African agency in building a new future—one in which the continent leads the charge in shaping its industrial and economic trajectory in the green transition. C-MINK empowers African governments and institutions with tailored strategic knowledge, policy support, and market intelligence to transform the continent’s critical minerals sector from an extractive model into a catalyst for green industrialization, regional economic growth, and equitable global trade. This initiative also seeks to enhance Africa’s geopolitical acumen and bargaining power, creating a space for shared experiences and a stronger collective voice on the global stage. By fostering continental cooperation and strategic foresight, C-MINK supports African governments to enter new minerals markets as equal partners assertively negotiating terms, setting prices, and breaking with the legacy of passive market engagement. C-MINK adopts a political economy-led approach to knowledge generation. Recognizing that market dynamics and multinational corporations are largely shaping the current critical minerals landscape, the knowledge generated by the platform provides African countries with the tools to advocate greater strategic autonomy over their natural resources. This reorientation enables them to break dependency cycles and formulate inclusive, sustainable pathways for managing essential minerals. Political economy insights also support the development of homegrown solutions, enabling countries to foster local industries, design clear green industrialization roadmaps, and position themselves strategically in an evolving global market. In parallel, C-MINK recognizes that sustainable critical minerals governance must also be rooted in respect for human and environmental rights. This includes addressing the broader impacts of mining and mineral-processing on local communities, Indigenous peoples, and ecologically sensitive areas. The platform will support governments in identifying and managing these impacts, ranging from environmental degradation and water use to occupational health and displacement, while integrating considerations for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), environmental sustainability, and climate mitigation across supply chains. In doing so, C-MINK promotes a holistic vision of critical minerals development that is not only economically transformative but also socially just and ecologically sound.
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