Africans have resilience

'The word is resilience, Africans have resilience', says Prof Carlos in his opening remarks at the Mining Series 2025 hosted by Invest Africa 

There is an undeniable energy surrounding the African Mining Indaba week - like a spark that brings people and ideas together, opening doors, igniting conversations, and turning casual chats into big opportunities and closed deals. This annual event shakes up the Mother City, filling the air with an energy you can almost feel. The 31st Investing in Africa Mining Indaba took place recently in Cape Town, South Africa.

Conversations go far beyond the Cape Town International Convention Centre, leaving room for side events like the Mining Series hosted by Invest Africa. Invest Africa is a pan-African platform promoting trade and investment on the continent. Its Mining Series is where discussions unfolded, spotlighting Africa’s growing role in powering the global energy transition. Our very own Honorary Professor, Carlos Lopes, set the tone for the Mining Series with his opening remarks stating that the “the word is resilience – Africans have resilience”

“The word is resilience – Africans have resilience”

Prof Lopes’ remarks contextualised today’s global landscape, highlighting that out of the world’s twenty fastest-growing economies, ten will be from Africa. However, despite this rapid growth, the continent will continue to struggle with familiar challenges like access to capital, infrastructure and governance. He stressed to the investors, policymakers and industry leaders at the Mining Series that Africa’s resilience will be pushed to its limits as it steps into a world of extreme unpredictability – politically, economically and technologically. Furthermore, he stated that these levels of unpredictability will have three consequences which will affect the mining sector:

• Artificial intelligence will transform how we measure intellectual property value. This includes introducing imponderables that we cannot yet visualise due to its complexity.
• Demographics introduce complete change in politics. Young people across Africa are demanding change with unprecedented urgency, driving levels of contestation unlike anything seen before.
• We are going to witness dramatic changes related to climate.  We need to tackle this challenge within the broader context of the unpredictability surrounding us.

Prof Lopes concluded his impactful opening remarks, emphasising that if sectors such as mining fail to address these challenges, they will face serious consequences that will invariably lead to even greater unpredictability.