1. review of the Mining Indaba 2025
In February 2025, Cape Town once again became the epicenter of the global mining dialogue when the "Investing in African Mining Indaba" welcomed around 10,500 delegates and 58 ministers.
As part of the extensive program, the German Commodities Group (GCG), the DMT Group and the World Resources Forum hosted the side event "Re-Mining the Future: Investing in Africa's Secondary Raw Materials (SRMs)" as part of the AfricaMaVal initiative.
Our common goal: to show that end-of-life electronics, batteries and other so-called "urban mines" are not contaminated waste, but high-quality sources of raw materials. These can shorten supply chains, reduce CO₂ emissions and promote local, inclusive growth. This approach is at the heart of the GCG's mission: to design efficient, resilient and sustainable raw material routes for European industry.
2. the hidden reservoir of critical metals
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In 2022, 62 million tons of e-waste were generated worldwide - with an estimated value of USD 62 billion in recoverable metals. However, only 22 % of this ended up in formal recycling streams.
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Africa currently only produces 2.5 kg of e-waste per capita - the lowest figure in the world - but the quantities are increasing rapidly and are barely recorded.
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South Africa generated around 527,000 tons of e-waste in 2022 - around 8.8 kg per person - making it the second largest producer on the continent.
Used cell phones, laptops and batteries contain copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium and rare earths - all of which are on the EU list of critical raw materials. They can be recovered locally:
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Protecting African producers and European buyers from price fluctuations
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Significantly reduce the CO₂ footprint compared to primary mining
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Keeping a much larger share of value creation on the continent
"Africa already has a significant urban mine - the challenge now is to mobilize it responsibly," emphasized Adrien Specker, Head of Circular Solutions at GCG, in his opening keynote.
3. findings from the expert panel
| Speaker | Central statement | Significance for the value chains |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Dominic Vooght (DMT Group) | Demonstrated that optimized take-back logistics for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries can reduce collection costs by up to % in pilot projects. | Lower costs enable profitable recycling centers with an annual throughput of approx. 5,000 t or more. |
| Pravashen Naidoo (Circular Economy SA) | Presented repair and dismantling cluster models at township level, which create around one new job for every 30 tons of e-waste. | The expansion of such clusters could generate over 50,000 green jobs in southern Africa. |
| Steffen Schröder (GCG) | Explained how multifunctional shredder lines can switch between printed circuit boards and small devices. | This flexibility increases the variety of metals and reduces price risks. |
Together, the speakers outlined a path from collection through pre-processing to refining, in which primary and secondary supply chains can grow side by side.
4. why secondary raw materials are important for German & European industry
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Resilience: Shorter, Africa-EU routes for recycled cobalt or lithium shorten the delivery times for European gigafactories.
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ESG compliance: Metals from urban mines have a lower environmental footprint and higher traceability - ideal for supplier audits.
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Cost advantage: Life cycle analyses show that recycled metals can be cheaper than primary raw materials when scaled 20-50 %.
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Shared prosperity: Clusters in the circular economy keep value creation local and specifically promote EU-Africa cooperation.
5 GCG's growing footprint in the circular economy
From our Berlin headquarters:
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we trade in critical raw materials - lithium, copper, rare earth concentrates - and link African producers with EU demand.
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we use technology-supported logistics that track every delivery in real time - from collection to the factory gate.
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we are investing in infrastructure, in particular in a pilot plant for SRM premixing near the port of Durban (commissioning: Q4 2025).
We also launched the GCG "SRM Acceleration Program" at the Indaba:
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Financing of local collection networks through transparent, performance-related remuneration
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Establishment of regional pre-processing centers (manual dismantling + mechanical shredding) to upgrade materials before export or local refining
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Purchase guarantees for refined metals via multi-year contracts - to minimize risk for investors
6. your participation options
| Stakeholders | Opportunity | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Technology & logistics partner | Piloting new tracking or processing technologies in the African context | Contact: info@german-commodities.com |
| Politics | Harmonization of EPR requirements in the SADC region for investment security | Participation in the GCG Roundtable in Brussels (Sept 2025) |
| Investors | Green bonds linked to SRM volumes combine impact with stable returns | Request for our term sheet package |
| Young Professionals | At the forefront of shaping the African circular economy | Discover career opportunities on our website |
7. outlook
The "Re-Mining the Future" workshop showed that secondary raw materials are a strategy, not scrap. If Africa uses its urban mines responsibly, we can:
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strengthen African and European supply chains,
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accelerate the continent's green growth and
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meet the EU objective of a secure, sustainable supply of raw materials.
GCG is proud to work with partners like the DMT Group on this vision. Join us - whether as a cooperation partner, customer or change agent - and let's turn e-waste into lasting value.
8 About the German Commodities Group
GCG is a Berlin-based trading and supply chain specialist for critical raw materials, energy and CO₂ certificates. Our mission: to make Europe's industry sustainable and resilient - through transparent, technology-enabled value chains from mine (or urban mine) to market.
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