By Ayomide Otitoju
MTN Group Chairman Mcebisi Jonas has urged African countries to leverage the continent’s vast mineral resources and growing consumer market to strengthen their position as global economic and political power shifts towards a more multipolar order.
Jonas said Africa has a significant opportunity to increase its influence in the global economy because it possesses some of the world’s largest deposits of critical minerals and one of the fastest-growing and youngest populations.
He spoke on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa, while discussing Africa’s geopolitical and economic outlook and the need for greater continental integration.
“The continent has two major levers,” Jonas said, identifying mineral wealth and demographic growth as key sources of bargaining power.
Africa has substantial deposits of minerals critical to technology, manufacturing and the energy transition, including manganese, platinum, copper and cobalt. South Africa is a major producer of platinum-group metals and manganese, while Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are important sources of copper and cobalt.
Jonas said Africa’s growing population provides another source of leverage by creating a large and expanding market for goods, services, technology and investment.
However, he warned that the continent could fail to translate its resource advantage into economic power if individual countries continue negotiating separately with external partners.
“If they go country-by-country and cut deals, you lose your leverage immediately,” he said.
The MTN chairman called on African governments to pursue economic interests collectively through regional and continental institutions, arguing that greater coordination would strengthen the continent’s bargaining position.
His comments come amid growing global competition for critical minerals needed for electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, semiconductors and other advanced technologies.
The increased demand presents an opportunity for African resource-rich economies to move beyond exporting raw materials and capture more value through local processing, manufacturing and industrial development.
Jonas, however, said Africa would need stronger institutions, leadership and intellectual capacity to take advantage of the changing global environment.
“We need different governments. We need different leaders,” he said, stressing that African interests would be better served when countries act collectively.
He noted that the global system had evolved from the bipolar rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union to a period of US-led unipolarity following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, before moving towards a multipolar order.
According to him, power is increasingly being distributed among several centres, including the United States, China, Europe and emerging powers in the Middle East.
Jonas said the fragmentation of global power could create opportunities for Africa to negotiate more effectively with competing economic powers.
He cautioned, however, that natural resources alone would not guarantee development, urging African countries to strengthen research institutions, education systems, intellectual capacity and policy expertise.
“If the intellectual capacity of the continent is reduced, we are not going to be able to benefit from the possible wealth that we have,” he said.
He also called for a stronger continental identity, arguing that narrow national interests should not undermine the broader economic interests shared by African countries.
Jonas said Africa’s opportunity lies not simply in possessing critical minerals and a rapidly growing population, but in converting those assets into bargaining power, investment, jobs and industrial capacity.
The challenge, he added, is whether African governments can coordinate effectively enough to ensure the continent captures a greater share of the economic value generated by its resources.
