Africa has a significant portion of the rare-earth elements (REE) required for the transition to, and development of, new energy vehicles (NEV), with a sizable opportunity to capitalise on their value addition by deepening the continent’s critical minerals value chain, highlights vehicle manufacturer group Stellantis South Africa MD Mike Whitfield.

Africa’s mining sector plays an important role in developing motor vehicle components, with copper from northern Zambia, for instance, being touted for its importance in developing wiring harnesses for motor vehicles.

Whitfield adds that Southern Africa plays a significant role in using its platinum-group metals (PGMs) to manufacture catalytic convertors but notes that “we did not capitalise on taking that value chain further, and while some value was added to the PGMs, we never went the whole way in terms of exporting completely, and this is something that we must learn from.”

Therefore, he deems it imperative that effective mechanisms are established to ensure that additional value can be accrued for minerals mined in Africa through their in-continent beneficiation.

Despite the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources’ call to introduce measures to promote the beneficiation of South Africa’s minerals in the country, Whitfield notes the department needs to move swiftly on clarifying what such an effort entails.

With clarity and certainty towards such a government-led policy, Stellantis would be in a better-informed position in terms of how to participate in Africa-mined and -refined raw materials for NEVs.

Consistent Government Policy, Sustainable Practices

While it is important that Stellantis’ purchases are sustainable and meet sound labour practices, the vehicle manufacturer also stresses the importance of a consistent government policy across mining jurisdictions in Africa to ensure that it can invest in assembling motor vehicles and produce vehicle components over the long-term.

Stellantis’ R3-billion investment in constructing its greenfield manufacturing facility at the Coega Special Economic Zone, in the Eastern Cape, is in accordance with its Dare Forward 2030 ambition to sell one-million vehicles by 2030, with 70% regional production autonomy.

This greenfield manufacturing project is planned for the second half of 2026, while the first launch – of the Peugeot Landtrek 1 t pick-up truck – is planned for late 2026, with total plant production volume capacity planned to reach up to 50 000 completely knocked-down units a year.

Direct employment to support the building of this plant is expected at 1 000 jobs when at full capacity and Stellantis is targeting a localisation rate of over 30%.

Whitfield says the significance of the company’s constructing its first assembly plant in Coega rests firmly on the premise that South Africa boasts the potential to access a sizable market share on the continent through its participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement which will create one of the world’s largest trading blocs.

“More importantly, if you look at the African countries that we have also established a presence in, such as Morocco, Egypt and Algeria, we are beginning to see that the governments of these countries are starting to put in very clear automotive policies and that they are fully behind plans to grow the automotive sector across their respective regions,” he says.

Stellantis regards the promotion of sustainable practices as a key strategy required to ensure that Africa is well equipped and capacitated to meet the demands of the global NEV transition, with Whitfield adding that none of the original-equipment manufacturers are going to buy minerals that are not mined sustainably.

Because Africa holds a sizable portion of the resources required for NEV production, he says it is important that the public and private sectors work together, and independently, to create a policy environment which ensures that the raw materials are not exported only, but that they accrue value within the countries where they are mined, adding further value to their economies as well.

However, Whitfield notes that African countries are not going to drive the beneficiation of their own materials alone, but rather such an endeavor can be assisted through cooperation between component manufacturers and suppliers, and financial institutions.