Africa bears growing human cost of the world's rush for critical minerals

<p>The report paints what researchers describe as an <a href="https://mg.co.za/the-green-guardian/2026-05-14-kzn-coastal-communities-demand-withdrawal-of-sa-lithium-mine-expansion-over-legal-environmental-concerns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">alarming picture</a> of conditions across many of the mines supplying critical minerals. Globally, 329 allegations of abuse were recorded in 2025, more than double the 156 documented the previous year. Africa accounted for nearly a third of the increase.</p>

<p>The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) emerged as the most concerning hotspot on the continent, with 56 allegations recorded in 2025 and 151 since monitoring began in 2010, making it the second-most implicated country globally after Peru. Zambia ranked fifth globally, with 57 allegations recorded since 2010.</p>

<p>Workers’ rights violations, occupational health and safety concerns, environmental damage, water pollution and land rights disputes were among the most frequently reported impacts.</p>

<p>Researchers also documented 42 attacks against human rights and environmental defenders globally during 2025, while 61 protests, 10 strikes and dozens of legal actions were linked to disputes around transition-mineral projects.</p>

<p>Copper mining featured prominently. Copper is regarded as indispensable to electrification and renewable energy systems and mines producing the metal were associated with about 60% of all allegations recorded by the tracker.</p>

<p>The findings come at a time when competition for access to the continent’s mineral wealth is intensifying. The US, European Union and China have all sought to secure supplies of critical minerals through new partnerships and investment agreements with African governments.</p>

<p>The minerals have become strategically important because they underpin technologies central to decarbonisation efforts, including electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and battery storage systems.</p>

<p>But the report argues that the race to secure supply chains is often moving faster than efforts to protect communities and workers affected by mining projects. The authors warn that agreements negotiated under pressure to secure resources can sideline public consultation, transparency and environmental safeguards.</p>

<p>The report suggests that the greatest threat to the clean energy mineral boom might not be a shortage of minerals but growing resistance from communities who feel they are carrying the costs of a transition from which others reap the benefits. </p>

<p>Community opposition, legal challenges, strikes and protests can delay projects, increase costs and disrupt mineral supplies.</p>

<p><a href="https://media.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/files/media/documents/joseph-kibugu-announcement-appointment-jan-2012.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joseph Kibugu</a>, the centre’s Africa regional manager, said the surge in allegations of abuse in Africa was an alarming continuation of what was seen in the region last year. </p>

<p>“This acceleration is unfolding at the same time that global powers are multiplying strategic mineral agreements with African governments — often negotiated with little consultation with rightsholders and communities and, crucially, without binding human rights and environmental safeguards built into their terms,” he said.</p>

<p>Kibugu warned that as demand for Africa’s minerals continued to increase and global powers <a href="https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/2026-03-12-the-second-scramble-for-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">scrambled for market access</a> in the DRC, Zambia and elsewhere, human rights abuses would also probably rise, “unless companies, states and investors take decisive action to ensure that local communities and workers are protected and benefit from the resources”.  </p>

<p>According to the report, 12 allegations linked to 45 impacts on workers’ rights were recorded against Kamoto Copper Company, a joint venture involving Glencore, state-owned Gecamines and the DRC government.</p>

<p>The report said the findings coincided with growing international attention around the DRC’s <a href="https://www.lobitocorridor.org/history-background" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lobito Corrido</a>, a major US and EU-backed infrastructure project intended to connect the DRC’s copper belt with Angola’s Atlantic coast.</p>

<p>“Findings from the Tracker raise serious concerns about the governance context in which these projects are being developed: mining provinces in Lualaba province have enlisted law enforcement and military personnel to protect operations, contributing to a pattern of human rights abuses by soldiers, including the alleged illegal takeover of mining concessions.”  </p>

<p>The US-DRC Strategic Partnership signed in 2025 was being challenged in the Congolese Constitutional Court, signalling how deals struck without adequate community consultation and transparency risked being legally contested, the centre said.  </p>

<p>The report noted recent analyses have identified gaps in responsible business conduct provisions within mineral policy frameworks in South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania.</p>

<p>Indigenous communities, workers and women continued to bear a disproportionate share of mining's impacts. Indigenous rights featured in nearly one in five allegations recorded in 2025, while allegations involving workers more than doubled from the previous year. </p>

<p>Researchers documented 22 alleged work-related deaths and found that only 56% of mines linked to allegations were covered by publicly available human rights policies.</p>

<p>The consequences extended beyond human rights concerns. Protests, strikes, legal challenges and community opposition were increasingly disrupting mining projects, creating risks for investors and companies dependent on reliable supplies of critical minerals.</p>

<p>The demand for transition minerals was expected to keep rising as countries pursued climate goals and expanded renewable energy systems. Unless governments and companies strengthened safeguards for workers, communities and the environment, the minerals powering the green transition could increasingly become a source of conflict rather than a pathway to a more sustainable future, the authors warned.</p>

Guardian Sport · Jun 24

Guardian Sport · Jun 24

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