Why Africa’s Productivity Could Reshape Global Supply Chains
- Mweemba Ntembe
- Sep 8
- 3 min read
Africa sits on vast mineral wealth, from Zambia’s copper belts to the cobalt mines of the DRC. These resources are central to the global energy transition, yet Africa’s contribution to global supply chains remains far below its potential. Productivity is falling when it should be rising, and the consequences reach far beyond African borders. They ripple into energy bills, construction costs, and the price of every electric vehicle built worldwide.
Copper prices are more than just market numbers. They drive the cost of construction, shape energy bills, and even affect the price of electric vehicles. And they have surged. In July 2025, copper touched an all-time high of nearly US$6 per pound ($5.959 to be exact), fuelled by a volatile mix of tariff threats, geopolitical uncertainty, and strained supply. Earlier in the year, prices had already risen above $5, sending shockwaves through industries that rely on copper as a basic input. Tariff speculation, such as the proposed 50 per cent U.S. import duty, only poured fuel on the fire, adding sudden pressure to an already tight market.
Meanwhile, Africa, with some of the world’s richest copper deposits, has watched these price swings largely from the sidelines. Zambia and the DRC alone sit on vast reserves critical to the energy transition. And yet, productivity in Africa’s resource sector has been declining. According to McKinsey, the sector’s productivity has shrunk by about five percent per year over the past decade, and its contribution to the continent’s GDP has fallen from around 14 percent to 8 percent. The minerals are still there. What is missing is the investment, infrastructure, and technology to unlock them at scale.
This is not just Africa’s challenge. It is a global one. When supply cannot keep up with demand, prices climb, and everyone from Berlin to Beijing feels the pinch. Flip that equation, however, and a different picture emerges. A more productive Africa, one with modernised mines, better-trained workforces, efficient logistics, and advanced technology, could expand supply, ease price spikes, and stabilise the global economy. Investing in African productivity is not an act of charity. It is sound economics.
The path forward rests on three pillars: people, process, and technology. Africa’s young, fast-growing workforce, projected to be the largest in the world by 2050, must be trained and empowered to take on skilled roles across the mining value chain. Regulatory systems and logistics networks must be streamlined, with artisanal mining brought into the formal sector and inefficiencies rooted out. And the continent’s mines must leapfrog into the future, powered by automation, renewable energy, digital mapping, and data-driven supply chains.
But here is the key. None of this can happen if Africa continues to be treated as a junior partner in its own story. Productivity gains will only be realised when investors work with African nations as equals, co-designing long-term initiatives that build real capacity on the ground. That means moving beyond extractive deals and embracing partnerships that create value for both sides.
The world is searching for answers to energy insecurity, inflationary pressure, and the urgent need to decarbonise. Africa holds a large part of the solution. What is required is not platitudes but concrete investment in productivity, in people, in processes, and in technology. Do that, and Africa will not only be resource-rich, it will be a stabilising force for the global economy.
Perhaps that is the twist in the supply and demand story. The balance the world is desperate for may well depend on Africa’s ability to finally realise its full productive power.
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