MARCEL MBAMALU
The United Nations has launched a major new intervention to ensure Africa does not repeat the crude oil mistake with the minerals powering the global energy transition.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, September 23, announced the Country Support Mechanism on Critical Energy Transition Minerals in New York, naming Nigeria, Guinea, Indonesia, Madagascar, Zambia and Zimbabwe as its first six partner countries.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe message was blunt: “The countries that hold the critical minerals powering the energy transition must be the first to benefit from them,” Guterres said. “With Guinea, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe as our first partners, the Country Support Mechanism puts equity and justice into practice – to turn mineral wealth into jobs and prosperity at home.”
Why It Matters for Nigeria
Critical minerals – lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements – are the backbone of electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines and battery storage. Global demand is expected to nearly triple by 2030 as the world races to net-zero.
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For Nigeria, whose lithium deposits in Nasarawa, Kogi and Kwara remain largely untapped and largely exported raw, the mechanism offers a chance to break the pattern.
The UN warned that without strong governance, the lithium boom could mirror oil: weak regulation, irresponsible extraction, and communities bearing the environmental cost without economic benefits.
What the Scheme Will Actually Do
Unlike past declarations, the mechanism is operational. It will be led by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Development Coordination Office, coordinating expertise across the UN system, with UN teams working through resident offices in each country.
According to the UN, support will focus on four things: policy and legal reform to strengthen mining codes, contracts and royalties; local value addition – processing lithium and other minerals in-country instead of shipping raw ore; environmental and social safeguards – protecting communities; and investment and transparency – building bankable, responsible value chains.
As Guterres’ adviser Selwin Hart warned: Without this, countries risk being trapped at the bottom of global value chains as mere exporters of raw materials, while others benefit enormously from their mineral wealth.
The Just Transition Test
The initiative directly addresses the central question of forthcoming Prime Business Africa-backed book, Power, People & Proof: Who pays and who profits from transition?
Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer, Zimbabwe is the continent’s top lithium supplier, Guinea is the world’s largest bauxite producer. All have tried to ban raw exports to force local processing. Nigeria has announced similar plans but enforcement remains weak.
If the UN mechanism works, Nigeria could use its lithium not just to earn dollars, but to power its own mini-grids, battery storage, and EV assembly – turning the generator economy into a battery economy.
If it fails, it will be another resource curse: lithium mined in Nasarawa, processed in China, and sold back to Nigerians as expensive batteries.
The next six months will show whether equity and justice, as Guterres promises, can be engineered into the mineral value chain from the start.
Dr. Marcel Mbamalu is a distinguished communication scholar, journalist, and entrepreneur with three decades of experience in the media industry. He holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and serves as the publisher of Prime Business Africa, a renowned multimedia news platform catering to Nigeria and Africa's socio-economic needs.
Dr. Mbamalu's journalism career spans over two decades, during which he honed his skills at The Guardian Newspaper, rising to the position of senior editor. Notably, between 2018 and 2023, he collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Northeast Nigeria, training senior journalists on conflict reporting and health journalism.
Dr. Mbamalu's expertise has earned him international recognition. He was the sole African representative at the 2023 Jefferson Fellowship program, participating in a study tour of the United States and Asia (Japan and Hong Kong) on inclusion, income gaps, and migration issues.
In 2020, he was part of a global media team that covered the United States presidential election.
Dr. Mbamalu has attended prestigious media trainings, including the Bloomberg Financial Journalism Training and the Reuters/AfDB Training on "Effective Coverage of Infrastructural Development in Africa."
As a columnist for The Punch Newspaper, with insightful articles published in other prominent Nigerian dailies, including ThisDay, Leadership, The Sun, and The Guardian, Dr. Mbamalu regularly provides in-depth analysis on socio-political and economic issues.
