CCG attended the event in Cape Town 9-13 February 2026 as part of an FCDO delegation led by Laura Blizzard (Head of Development Strategy for Critical Minerals)
The delegation comprised Lily Ryan-Collins (Senior Infrastructure Adviser, FCDO), Carl Hickson (Private Sector Development Adviser), Vivien Foster and Karla Cervantes-Barron (CCG and Imperial College London).
The purpose of the mission was to launch the CCG study “Beyond Extraction: Simulating Battery Mineral Value Addition” at two high profile events; one sponsored by FCDO/Department for Business and Trade and one organised by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). During the mission, several quality bilateral meetings were held to identify potential partners to take forward the work.
It was striking that value addition and regional integration, the two focus areas of the CCG study, were prominent themes on the Indaba 2026 agenda. However, we also noted that following shifts in the global geopolitical environment, there was renewed interest in mining more traditional metals (such as iron, chromium, bauxite) with the potential to contribute more immediately to Africa’s development, than transition minerals directed mainly to export markets.
Events
The FCDO launch event “Regional collaboration vs. resource nationalism for battery mineral value addition – introducing the UK’s partnership offering” was well attended. Several senior figures from African governments and regional organizations were present. The presentation of the study was well received sparking significant questions from the audience, particularly around the winners and losers from regional integration and how to structure projects to share benefits.
The NRGI event, “Regionalizing African Mineral Value Chains: Requirements for Success”, placed CCG work alongside AfDB and NRGI work on the regional integration of critical mineral value chains. It gave rise to lively discussions among delegates.
During the bilateral meetings, there was a strong interest in and appreciation for the work particularly around linkages to the regional analytics.
