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Les minéraux critiques, pourquoi et pour qui? image

Les minéraux critiques, pourquoi et pour qui?

Pardon My Planet
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29 Plays1 month ago

Invitée : Lika Scott Sow, fondatrice de Women in Mining Sénégal et membre d’AWIMA (African Women in Mining Association)

Le podcast Pardon My Planet présente sa première série en français, consacrée aux partenariats entre l’Afrique et l’Europe autour des matières premières critiques. À travers trois épisodes, cette série explore les enjeux de souveraineté, d’inclusion, et de développement durable dans le secteur minier africain.

À quoi sert le lithium, le cobalt ou les terres rares ? Pourquoi sont-ils qualifiés de « critiques » ? Cet épisode revient sur la dépendance européenne, les enjeux de souveraineté industrielle, et la nécessité de forger des partenariats équilibrés avec les pays africains producteurs. Il aborde aussi l’évolution des critères ESG qui redéfinissent les règles du jeu dans le secteur minier mondial.

Retrouvez plus d'informations sur lgi.earth/fr/podcast

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Transcript

Introduction to Critical Minerals

00:00:09
Speaker
Welcome to this first episode in French of Pardon My Planet. I'm Anwar and today we're going to talk about the critical minéraux. Why are a
00:00:40
Speaker
is the association women in industry mining in Africa. Hello Lika, and thank you for accepting the invitation. monjo anno marcipo you know the jas compelled the say reu mineroritique lika la promerquetroovvi possess keo leminoo criticti e boo eskipo to cat you the critic Hello
00:01:04
Speaker
It is So
00:01:28
Speaker
imagine a portable phone with all the applications and features that we need, but has no battery. don e put to sample more baff function you no per but laaitatedly hodu processor sos energi So
00:01:44
Speaker
De la même manière, les minéraux critiques représentent un peu la batterie de ces technologies modernes.
00:01:58
Speaker
Donc, sans eux, notre transition énergétique, numérique, serait vraiment impossible.

Challenges in Mineral Supply

00:02:14
Speaker
Difficile à obtenir, qu'est-ce ça veut dire? Leur approvisionnement dépend de quelques pays. Et cela signifie qu'en fait, c'est un minéral qui n'est pas forcément accessible facilement, soit à cause de la géopolitique ou des réglementations environnementales qui entourent ces minéraux critiques.
00:02:42
Speaker
And just to make a link with what we call market orosson geopolitico umvo and duul la poton's effective vour contin cale rap ah the
00:03:11
Speaker
through strategic partnerships with some African countries, for example, who have natural riches. natural and And as you mentioned, the at are playing in the energy transition.
00:03:36
Speaker
contone laparto ah the the samemiirro criticti umdi a longam de mo pupo luol cosseineevo critictique ju non at transitional energy don't What we see is
00:04:02
Speaker
Les terres rares, on en parle beaucoup.
00:04:10
Speaker
etc. Et donc, quand on de la
00:04:31
Speaker
while the a is directly related to necessary for electric vehicles.
00:04:52
Speaker
The European Union, in that the production of an electric car needs six times more than classical thermal vehicle. Cobalt lithium are key elements to be able to reach climate objectives fixed by deploy several strategies.
00:05:21
Speaker
In this how to diversify the source of provisioning, to establish partnerships with producers,
00:05:31
Speaker
a recycling, the development of batteries and electronic components that allow to the pressure on mining extraction.

Africa's Mineral Wealth

00:05:43
Speaker
Other strategies are also deployed, such as the of that are not yet explored and yet less exploited.
00:05:55
Speaker
So there who are the
00:06:13
Speaker
So, we have understood that Europe is dependent on its resources. But today, is
00:06:51
Speaker
reserve resources, but in the context of this security and diversification of supply sources, yes, there are research
00:07:12
Speaker
manno sadi and c lorop ah can self-fulfilled in terms of provisioning. I think that's not necessarily the case.
00:07:42
Speaker
and extraction of these resources? hello Africa holds important reserves of critical minerals, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
00:07:55
Speaker
We have heard a lot of cobalt, for example, but also in South Africa, in Mali, with lithium. Today, there are resources that have been discovered in these countries.
00:08:08
Speaker
And so, to give you an example, la rep republicri Democratic Republic of Congo has about 70% of the world's reserves of Kobach. they reserve mujabuoba
00:08:31
Speaker
Today, there is a issue of developing local value chains in Africa, but this distribution that we see in the continent, I some of them, but there are of course others,
00:08:45
Speaker
ah create major geopolitical challenges, especially around the think that the development of local supply chains ah curlu de lu mont dehandovaana lu remain the
00:09:16
Speaker
So there are a lot of projects in the continent to go into that direction. its used more ah contro pal the but the pro ma via the um appperta de cop pi has international de baun na yeah but tamo vilahi um ozorri kumaculorop as And the of these resources?
00:10:01
Speaker
To give you an example, for example, projects that contribute the development of local chains, we have the local transformation of Cobalt into RDC.
00:10:15
Speaker
As I said earlier, the RDC holds about 70% of the global reserves of Cobalt.

Local Production and Value Chains

00:10:22
Speaker
They have launched initiatives to be able refine and transform metal on the place rather than to export it in brute.
00:10:30
Speaker
The goal is to create a local industry of manufacturing batteries and to generate more economic value. Another example is an initiative manufacturing batteries in Africa.
00:10:43
Speaker
So, several countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, explore this possibility of being able produce batteries locally rather than only export the cobalt lithium.
00:10:55
Speaker
Another initiative is this famous mining, industrial and logistics corridor. a central Africa project, which aims to improve the extraction and the transformation of
00:11:20
Speaker
So we see that African countries try organize
00:11:50
Speaker
to
00:11:54
Speaker
So there are a a balanced way.

Innovation and Partnerships in Africa

00:12:09
Speaker
think about this number of 70% of the global production of Cobalt.
00:12:19
Speaker
its game to the chain of value, that it is the most local possible?
00:12:34
Speaker
We talked about the New Deal, the European Green Deal. I would like to mention the African Deal. For a simple reason, it is that today, there are a lot of initiatives that aim to represent Africa as an active actor in its own development.
00:12:54
Speaker
We put innovation, sovereignty and balanced strategic partnerships. That was mentioned. don So, this concept, today, we look at all the different stakeholders who are ready engage in Africa to develop all these different initiatives.
00:13:17
Speaker
So, for me, Europe has to earlier. There is economic issue, while taking profit, or at least in maximizing this chain of provision.
00:13:37
Speaker
So this African-American deal, think that a
00:13:50
Speaker
Super, cela m'amène forcément à ce qu'on puisse parler de
00:14:16
Speaker
The integration of ESG initiatives
00:14:30
Speaker
to
00:14:41
Speaker
okay um the pre Okay?

Transparency and Community Integration

00:14:45
Speaker
umos de criter is ri andaf for miso exege depatic respecture don nouvi law e decon conditioned hava kiswa ikita ki Then another aspect is transparency and traceability.
00:15:02
Speaker
This has been a subject to a problem for several years in Africa. Today, the eoff fan And finally, last element, it's all the a
00:15:50
Speaker
to be able to reduce their carbon footprint. So in and it's really a priority today.
00:16:08
Speaker
It's great, but today I have to ask the question of communities, or in all of a sudden, people who are the ground. Between the fact of today on the ground.
00:16:30
Speaker
What are the of
00:16:40
Speaker
I think yes. After, it depends on how we are. If we are European, there is arisa libo command sit si only luoto opeia effective ma ah a certain way to see things.
00:16:59
Speaker
And for me, I think there is certain sensitivity that has existed a long time and a great communication to the big public through media, social networks,
00:17:11
Speaker
several documentaries, reports, expertise, education, school a
00:17:41
Speaker
So that's perspective comp got up acan to suutum solo contin africa contino coco de lemir elan took tiishha on a perspective lab asop puu lamp costumes of a
00:18:16
Speaker
to strategic partner with Europe or other partners. So that's one thing.
00:18:45
Speaker
necessary? Why not in the school and university programs? Today, it's maybe limited to a it's something that, in my opinion, needs to democratize more.
00:18:57
Speaker
Another aspect is but
00:19:15
Speaker
local consultation, are is essential to be critical.
00:19:33
Speaker
Anglo-Saxons are talking about Social License for Operations, so that remains essential today. The last aspect I will talk about on that,
00:19:45
Speaker
by the economic sovereignty, it's all the commercial Today, there are a little bit of I the value and establish a much more balanced partnership.
00:20:34
Speaker
book of is executive but Today, in
00:21:01
Speaker
ah kulet local mono which Alors, je pense que la stratégie In any case, the need is identified, it is clear for Europe.
00:21:16
Speaker
I think now that the development.

Conclusion: Transforming Resources Locally

00:21:31
Speaker
So how to do this subject at challenge a subject that will contribute a lot to participate in the next years to participate the development possibility to transform these resources at the local level?
00:21:55
Speaker
integrate communities into decision-making and
00:22:24
Speaker
Thank you, Lika, for your clarification. With pleasure. Thank you very much. You understood that the the
00:22:39
Speaker
If you episode, it. on our website, lgi.earth. See you soon! ah