The global transition to a green, electrified future is not merely a race to develop new technologies; it is a fundamental restructuring of global resource supply chains. At the heart of this transformation lie critical minerals—lithium, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements—that power everything from electric vehicle (EV) batteries to solar panels and wind turbines. Recognising this strategic imperative, India has launched a decisive, $4 billion National Critical Mineral Mission, and Africa, with Zambia as a central pillar, has emerged as the primary theatre for this endeavour. This is not a vague expression of interest but a concrete, well-funded strategic pivot with profound and lasting implications.
Zambia has allocated 9,000 square kilometres for India’s exploration of cobalt and copper, positioning itself as a strategic partner in New Delhi’s mineral security drive. Cobalt, indispensable in EV batteries, and copper, critical for power grids, electronics, and green infrastructure, are central to India’s push to reduce import dependency and secure future technologies. India’s state-owned Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) is already holding lithium blocks in Argentina, and Zambia is the next target in its expansion portfolio. This follows decades of Zambia’s mining experience, where copper has accounted for over 70% of export revenues, and cobalt has supplied global industries since the 1970s. Unlike earlier extractive partnerships, India is entering at a time when Zambia is seeking to move up the value chain—refining, processing, and eventually manufacturing battery components locally.
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Comparative Lessons from Other Partnerships
India’s strategy mirrors and competes with earlier initiatives by China, the United States, and Europe. China, through decades of investment, has established near-hegemonic control over cobalt supply chains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while the U.S. has launched a $1 billion fund for similar goals, but only a quarter of India’s $4 billion allocation. Europe, through its Critical Raw Materials Act, is also seeking African partners to secure diversified supply chains. For Zambia, India’s arrival could provide a counterbalance to Chinese dominance, introducing competition that potentially increases bargaining power. However, historical caution is warranted: during the colonial and post-independence mining booms, Zambia’s resources were largely exported in their raw form, with little reinvestment in local industrialisation. Avoiding a repeat requires embedding beneficiation and local participation at the core of these new agreements.
Implications for Africa’s Continental Integration
On a continental scale, India’s focus aligns with Africa’s aspirations under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to integrate value chains and reduce the continent’s overreliance on raw exports. If Zambia and peers like Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Mozambique leverage India’s partnerships wisely, they could attract not only capital but also technology transfer, skills training, and regional industrial hubs for EV battery production. The multiplier effects could be immense: job creation in processing plants, improved energy infrastructure, and stronger research ecosystems. Yet the risks are also real—unregulated foreign control, environmental degradation, and dependency cycles. The challenge is ensuring that agreements feed into Africa’s own frameworks, such as the African Mining Vision (AMV), which calls for transparent contracts, fair taxation, and beneficiation.
Historical Context and Africa’s Prominence
Africa’s mineral wealth has long drawn global interest—from Europe’s colonial exploitation of the Copperbelt to Cold War-era competition for uranium and strategic metals. Zambia itself became a pivotal copper supplier during the post-independence decades, but declining prices in the 1970s and structural adjustment in the 1980s left scars of resource dependency.
The India-Africa relationship is not new. It is steeped in a shared history of anti-colonial struggles and the solidarity of the Non-Aligned Movement. For decades, however, the economic relationship, while growing, lacked a defining strategic core. China entered the African market with immense financial firepower and a clear hunger for resources in the early 2000s.
Today, with clean energy redefining global geopolitics, Africa again finds itself at the centre of a mineral rush. The difference this time is agency: Africa, through bodies like the AU and regional blocs, is articulating its development priorities more forcefully. For Zambia, India’s $4 billion investment is an opportunity to rewrite the script—to turn geology into industrial power, to transform mines into hubs of green innovation, and to reposition Africa as a co-architect rather than just a supplier in the 21st-century energy economy.
