EU targets South Africa’s mineral value chain

Johannesburg has become the opening stage for a European Union push to turn a pledged €12 billion investment package for South Africa into bankable projects, with about 200 companies joining the bloc’s first investment roadshow in the country as competition intensifies over critical minerals.

The event, hosted at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Monday, marked the first major effort to mobilise private capital under the EU-South Africa Clean Trade and Investment Partnership signed in 2025. The roadshow is aimed at connecting European and South African firms, development finance institutions and public agencies with projects in minerals, energy, transport, logistics and clean industrial production.

The investment drive comes as governments and companies seek more secure supply chains for raw materials used in electric vehicles, renewable energy, digital infrastructure, defence systems and artificial intelligence. South Africa holds major deposits of platinum group metals, manganese, vanadium and other minerals that are central to the energy transition and advanced manufacturing, giving it strategic weight in the global contest for supply security.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau used the Johannesburg opening to underline that South Africa wants a deeper industrial role rather than a narrow export relationship built around raw materials. The government’s priority is beneficiation, processing and industrial development on South African soil, a position that reflects wider pressure across resource-rich African economies for greater local value addition.

That stance is increasingly shaping negotiations with overseas partners. South Africa and the EU signed a memorandum of understanding on sustainable minerals and metals value chains alongside the Clean Trade and Investment Partnership, linking access to resources with investment in processing capacity, skills development, infrastructure and jobs. The framework is designed to move cooperation beyond conventional trade flows and towards industrial partnerships that anchor more of the value chain locally.

The roadshow is being held in Johannesburg on June 1 and 2, followed by Cape Town on June 3 and 4 and Durban on June 5. Closed sessions are intended to allow project promoters to pitch investment opportunities directly to financial institutions and companies. Around 10 financial institutions are participating, with the EU seeking to demonstrate that its Global Gateway tools can be used to convert political commitments into specific projects.

EU Ambassador Sandra Kramer has presented the exercise as a practical shift from policy dialogue to investment mobilisation. The bloc is trying to position itself as a long-term industrial partner at a time when China dominates many parts of global mineral processing and refining, while the United States, Japan, Gulf investors and other actors are also competing for access to African resources.

The €12 billion package forms part of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, which is designed to mobilise public and private capital for infrastructure and industrial projects across developing regions. The wider programme has been promoted as a counterweight to China’s Belt and Road Initiative and as a tool for Europe to reduce strategic dependencies in energy, minerals and technology supply chains.

South Africa’s importance extends beyond geology. It has the continent’s most industrialised economy, a sophisticated financial sector, established mining houses, research institutions and a relatively deep manufacturing base. More than 1,700 European companies operate in the country, and bilateral trade with the EU reached about €46 billion in 2025. Europe also accounts for more than 40% of foreign direct investment in South Africa, making the bloc a dominant commercial partner.

Several projects already linked to the partnership show the intended direction of travel. A €600 million framework loan to the Development Bank of Southern Africa is expected to support 1,200 megawatts of green energy and cut carbon emissions by 3.6 million tonnes. A separate facility for state freight company Transnet is aimed at upgrading port and rail infrastructure, a critical bottleneck for mining exports and industrial expansion.

The focus on Transnet reflects one of the major constraints on South Africa’s mineral ambitions. Rail and port inefficiencies have limited the movement of bulk commodities, while power supply weaknesses have disrupted mining and processing operations. Investors attending the roadshow are therefore looking not only at mineral deposits but also at whether transport, electricity and policy conditions can support large-scale industrial projects.