Critical Minerals, Critical Choices: Africa’s Role in a Transitioning World
Virtual Briefing Series
Thursday, December 11th, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET
Africa sits at the center of the global energy transition. From cobalt and copper in the Democratic Republic of Congo to major infrastructure initiatives like the Lobito Corridor, the continent’s mineral wealth—an estimated 30% of the world’s supply—is now indispensable to green-energy supply chains. As global powers compete for influence and investments, African governments, private-sector leaders, and human rights organizations face mounting pressure to ensure this moment leads to long-term development rather than a repeat of extractive history.
How are geopolitics impacting critical mineral competition in Africa? What safeguards are necessary to protect communities facing the social and environmental impacts of mineral extraction? And how can investment models, regulatory reforms, and geopolitical positioning converge to turn mineral wealth into inclusive and sustainable development?
Join us on Thursday, December 11 from 12:00 to 1:00 PM ET for a conversation with Mr. Emmanuel Umpula Nkumba, Executive Director of AFREWATCH; and Mr. Christian-Géraud Neema, nonresident scholar in the Carnegie Africa Program and Africa Editor at the China-Global South Project. This conversation will explore how investment flows, geopolitical dynamics, and regulatory frameworks intersect to shape Africa’s green-mineral future and catalyze industrial transformation.
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SPEAKER:
Mr. Emmanuel Umpula Nkumba
Emmanuel Umpula Nkumba is the Executive Director of the African Natural Resources Watch (AFREWATCH). He is an expert on business and human rights and on the governance of the extractive sector in the DRC and in Africa.
Mr. Umpula is a board member of Rights and Accountability In Development (RAID), Resource Matters, and African Coalition for Corporate Accountability (ACCA). He was previously Executive Director of Action Against Impunity for Human Rights, Coordinator of the Platform of Civil Society Organizations working in the mining sector of Katanga (POM), and Advocacy Coordinator of the Jimmy Carter Foundation (The Carter Center).
He is one of the civil society experts of the DRC who participated and contributed effectively to the revision of the Congolese mining code and regulations. He has supported several local communities in filing complaints against multinational companies using the OECD Guidelines and against the Congolese state before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Examples of cases of complaints in which he participated include the massacres of Kilwe against the Australian-Canadian company Anvil Mining, the demolition of the village Kawama aganst the mining company Malta Forrest International, and Heineken vs. its former workers, etc. He also participated in the 2011 revision of the OECD Guidelines.
Currently, he is interested in the energy sector and the energy transition. As such, he coordinates a project that aims not only to create a south-south synergy on the issue of energy transition and climate change, but also the creation of a new narrative on the subject. Mr. Umpula also works on the formalisation of the artisanal mining sector in the DRC, particularly in the copper and cobalt sector. In this regard, he has published or co-published several reports, notably on child labor in cobalt mines in the DRC in 2016 and the supply of artisanal cobalt in the DRC in 2021.
In the area of human rights and the environment, he is the author or co-author of several reports and articles available on the internet.
Mr. Christian-Géraud Neema
Christian-Géraud Neema is a nonresident scholar in the Carnegie Africa Program. He is an expert analyst on China-Africa relations. Currently, he serves as the Africa editor of the China-Global South Project. He is a frequent commentator and contributor on China’s engagement in the mining sector in Africa and the political economy of the mining sector of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for various international media and research institutions. Previously he has worked as a project manager for a Congolese mining company in the DRC and as a consultant on good governance and policy advocacy for a Jesuit research center in the same country.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Politics from Renmin University of China and a master’s degree in International Development from the International University of Japan. His research focused on natural resources revenue management in resources-rich countries.
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