How does AfricaMaVal fit the EU strategy on Critical Raw Minerals and the European Critical Raw Materials Act?
AfricaMaVal is a Horizon Europe programme, funded by the EU and receives funding from the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). The European fundung strategy is driven by the recognition that, without securing the supply of ECRM from outside Europe, Europe may not be in a position to meet its decarbonisation goals and to allow its businesses to compete internationally.
We applaud the European Union for setting out its very own strategy, in a similar vein to the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy, the United States IRA, DPA III, ATVM programs etc and the Australian Critical Minerals Strategy.
AfricaMaVal is one of the EU’s instruments to reach their goals and we are looking to support the European Union as it puts into practice its Critical Raw Materials Strategy.
What are the Extended critical Raw Materials / ECRMs?
The Extended Critical Raw Materials or ECRM are the focus of AfricaMaVal.
These ECRM include:
- All but 2 of the 30 Critical Raw Materials included on the Fourth European Critical Raw Materials List dated September 2020 except for coking coal and natural rubber.
- The following additional commodities: Copper, Nickel, Tin and Manganese. Copper, Nickel and Manganese are on the list of “Strategic Raw Materials” which forms part of the Annex 1 to the European Critical Materials Act dated March 2023. Tin is a particularly pertinent commodity in the context of Africa’s geological potential, is essential for electronics and electrification and may also have a further use as a performance enhancer in lithium-ion batteries and certain cathodes. Tin is on the International Energy Agency’s List of Critical Minerals (2022) and the US Geological Survey’s 2022 List of Critical Minerals.
The list of ECRM is therefore included below:
They include:
- Antimony (Sb), Baryte, Bauxite, Beryllium (Be), Bismuth (Bi), Borate, Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Fluorspar, Gallium (Ga), Germanium (Ge), Hafnium (Hf), Indium (In), Lithium (Li), Magnesium (Mg), Manganese (Mn), Natural graphite, Nickel (Ni), Niobium (Nb), Coking coal, Phosphate rock, Phosphorus (P), Silicon metal (Si), Scandium (Sc), Strontium, Tantalum (Ta), Tin (Sn), Titanium (Ti), Tungsten (W), Vanadium (V);
- HREEs-Heavy Rare Earth Elements: (Dysprosium-Dy, Erbium-Er, Europium-Eu, Gadolinium-Gd, Holmium-Ho, Lutetium-Lu, Terbium-Tb, Thulium-Tm, Ytterbium-Yb, Yttrium-Y);
- LREEs-Light Rare Earth Elements: (Cerium-Ce, Lanthanum-La, Neodymium-Nd, Praseodymium-Pr, Promethium, Samarium-Sm); and
- PGM-Platinum Group Metals: (Iridium-Ir, Palladium-Pd, Platinum-Pt, Rhodium-Rh, Ruthenium-Ru).
What is an ECRM Proposal?
We define ECRM Proposals as mining (both artisanal, small scale and large scale operations), refining and/or recycling projects involving one or more ECRM, across the development curve (exploration, resource definition, study stage, development and expansion projects).
What is an ECRM Infrastructure Proposal?
We define ECRM Infrastructure Proposals as Infrastructure projects required to unlock mining / refining / recycling potential on the African continent (energy, water, transportation etc.).
When do I need to submit my project?
Any time before February 2025.
What is a Responsible Investment Opportunity?
A Responsible Investment Opportunity may be:
- An ECRM Project with credible ECRM resources, sufficient availability of project information, and part of its anticipated ECRM output potentially available to European industry;
- Infrastructure clusters of relevance for ECRM project development;
- Investment opportunities may additionally be identified for the artisanal and small-scale mining sector (not necessarily project-specific);
- Investment opportunities will be supplemented by conceptual or strategic recommendations, for instance in the context of national raw material partnerships or other forms of cooperation and support.
As such, the target group for investment opportunities and associated investment recommendations comprises commercial organizations, but extends to policy makers and public institutions as well.
Criteria for defining projects as “Investment Opportunities” will be available soon.
What will happen if my ECRM Project is identified as a Responsible Investment Opportunity?
A project identified as a Responsible Investment Opportunity will be submitted to the European Commission.
My project is located in a country targeted by EU sanctions. What can I do?
AfricaMaVal operates within the terms of the existing sanctions. However, please note that these sanctions are only targeted at specific industries and groups of people, or even individuals.
Please check if you may be affected by these sanctions: EU Sanctions Map
Are there minimum requirements for a project to feature on the EU-Africa Platform?
A list of minimum requirements for any project proposal will be communicated within the next few weeks for each segment of activity along the whole ECRM chain (Large-scale mining, Artisanal and Small-scale mining, infrastructure, processing, refining, recycling, services, trainings).
What is the AfricaMaVal Platform
More info about the platform, click here.
Who can benefit from the AfricaMaVal Platform?
Learn more about the platform here.
When using the plaftorm, how will my personal data be protected?
Our Data Privacy Policy is available at:
https://africamaval.eu/privacy-policy/
We are committed to ensuring that your data is protected with us, in compliance with the GDPR.
Can I expect to obtain funding from AfricaMaVal?
No, AfricaMaVal does not provide funding for ECRM Projects.
However, we understand that an ECRM Project (as defined above) will rely on funding to ensure it ultimately materializes.
We also recognize that project promoters may not have the adequate skills and knowledge to identify and pursue sources of funding.
Through AfricaMaVal, we have set out to identify pockets of liquidity for ECRM Projects in Africa.
These pockets of liquidity will vary depending on, amongst others:
- the nature of the ECRM Project (e.g. recycling, mining or refining project)
- its stage of development (e.g. resource definition, study stage, construction, expansion etc)
- the location of the ECRM Project
- the Environmental, Social and Governance standards applied / to be applied by the project promoter
- the mandate, risk profile, commodity exposure, country exposure and investment criteria specific to each funding party, and
- the size of the targeted funding.
Through this work, AfricaMaVal aims to support the European Critical Raw Materials Act’s objective to provide “Strategic Projects” with a “coordinated access to finance” via the identification of pockets of liquidity. These sources of funding will be made aware of AfricaMaVal and the AfricaMaVal Platform and will be given the opportunity to join the AfricaMaVal Platform to assess ECRM Projects.
Note that the identification of pockets of liquidity does not infer that these funding parties will ultimately provide any funding to your ECRM Project. All ECRM Projects are different and so are funding parties. Additionally, a funding party will undertake a detailed due diligence review to assess the risk profile of the ECRM Project and will only agree to providing funding under terms and conditions specific to each ECRM Project, which will mitigate the ECRM Project’s risk profile to a level that is satisfactory to the funding party.