The Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, called on Thursday in Nairobi for the adoption of an African ESG framework (environmental, social, and governance criteria) concerning critical minerals to ensure energy transition.
Speaking at a panel on critical minerals and energy transition in Africa, during the twentieth session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-20), the minister highlighted that this transition requires the mobilization of over 42 critical minerals and materials.
“We need to extract more minerals and materials in the next 30 years than the world has extracted since the dawn of humanity,” she estimated.
Benali also emphasized that Morocco is proposing an OTC corridor (“Origin, Transit, Certification”) with an ESG framework tailored for Africa, designed by African mining ministers to finance the challenge of extracting and transforming critical minerals on the continent.
She further noted that the Kingdom is collaborating with organizations such as the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) to harmonize mining policies and promote traceability and transparent governance in essential mineral supply chains.
The minister also highlighted the Atlantic Initiative, launched by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, which aims to transform the Atlantic Ocean into a space for South-South cooperation and to enhance regional integration in West Africa.
Morocco can act as a catalyst for regional and international partnerships aimed at developing sustainable mining projects across Africa, ensuring that these metals and minerals are processed in Africa and primarily transit through the Atlantic corridor for the benefit of the continent, she asserted.
The work of the twentieth session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-20) began on Wednesday at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, with the participation of a Moroccan delegation led by Benali.
The Kingdom’s participation in this conference, under the theme “Four Decades of Environmental Action in Africa: Reflecting on the Past and Imagining the Future,” reflects its firm commitment to actively contribute to the definition and implementation of ambitious African environmental policies, in line with the High Directives of His Majesty King Mohammed VI for a sustainable future for Africa and future generations.