Youth In Mining Breakfast Meeting

Africa’s mining sector holds the key to the continent’s industrial future, yet its full potential within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) remains untapped—especially by the demographic group best positioned to transform it: the youth. The continent possesses about 30% of the world’s mineral resources, including 60% of the world’s cobalt, 90% of its platinum, and a significant share of its diamonds, gold, and manganese. Despite this wealth, Africa's share of the global mining revenue remains disproportionately low, largely due to its limited participation in the mid- and downstream segments of the value chain.

Africa's mining sector paradoxically marginalises its youth through a critical skills mismatch, leaving them unqualified for high-value, tech-driven roles and confined to low-skilled labour. This exclusion is compounded by technological disruption that stifles local innovation and a model of raw material export that limits youth to the least lucrative parts of the value chain, depriving the continent of revenue and industrialisation.

Furthermore, even skilled youth entrepreneurs are locked out by barriers to intra-African trade, as complex logistics and fragmented regulations prevent their SMEs from competing and creating a dynamic, continent-wide ecosystem. This workshop seeks to explore how Africa can unlock youth-led growth in mining, accelerate value addition, and deepen participation in intra-African mineral trade.

Key Objectives

1. Highlight the opportunities available for youth in responsible mining and its value chains in the single market of 1.5 billion people.
2. Examine the existing regulatory and financial impediments limiting Africa’s youth participation in mining activities.
3. Engage Development Financial Institutions to explore financing instruments for youth-led mining ventures.
4. Explore digital innovation in mining to promote youth-led beneficiation and mineral-based manufacturing.
5. Champion youth inclusivity and position youth voices in mining and its related activities policy dialogues.

Expected Participants

• Youth Mining Entrepreneurs
• Relevant Government Ministries
• AfCFTA Secretariat
• Major DFIs such as AfDB, Afreximbank, Africa50, and BADEA
• Mining Companies
• Investors
• Incubators
• Universities