PRESS RELEASE
SARW to Launch One Voice, One Strategy: A Continental Blueprint for African Strategic Minerals, Joint
Industrial Policies, and Diplomacy
Pretoria, South Africa, 3 September 2026: The Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW) will launch One
Voice, One Strategy: A Continental Blueprint for African Strategic Minerals, Joint Industrial Policies, and
Diplomacy on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, at a high-level continental convening in Pretoria.
The launch comes at a defining moment for Africa. Growing global demand for critical minerals presents
significant opportunities for the continent, but also risks reproducing a longstanding colonial model in which
Africa exports raw materials while value addition, manufacturing, technology and high-value employment are
created elsewhere. The Blueprint advances a different pathway: using Africa’s mineral wealth to drive value
addition, industrialisation, technological capability, economic sovereignty and shared prosperity, within
environmental limits and for the common good.
The convening will bring together participants from across Africa, including representatives of governments, the
African Union and other African institutions, civil society, the private sector, trade unions, faith-based
organisations, community organisations, academia, diplomats, international cooperating partners, and eminent
persons. It will also convene leading experts and partners from the Global South, including Brazil, China and
Malaysia, to share experiences of industrialisation and examine the pathways, partnerships and policy options
available to Africa.
At the heart of One Voice, One Strategy is the recognition that no African country can industrialise alone. The
initiative calls for a unified continental approach that links Africa’s mineral endowment to coordinated industrial,
trade, investment, and social and environmental policies, thereby strengthening the continent’s collective
bargaining power in an increasingly fraught geopolitical environment.
The initiative places people and nature at the centre of Africa’s industrialisation agenda. The underlying
Communiqué calls for governance, human rights and environmental safeguards, including meaningful
participation by communities and workers. It recognises the role of trade unions, faith-based organisations and
broader community constituencies in shaping Africa’s collective voice.
To move from strategy to implementation, the initiative proposes a new continental architecture anchored in an
African Green Minerals Producers’ Coalition, supported by a Heads of State Steering Committee to provide
political leadership and coordinate Africa’s collective position; a High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on Green
Minerals to provide strategic leadership, advocacy and high-level engagement with governments, Regional
Economic Communities and the African Union; a Technical Support Committee, drawing on expertise from
universities, think tanks, industry, labour and women’s movements; and a dedicated Secretariat on Green Minerals
to coordinate implementation, ensure coherence and monitor progress.
This architecture is intended to help Africa move beyond fragmented national approaches towards collective
political leadership, coordinated economic diplomacy and practical implementation. The initiative seeks to align
African countries around shared priorities and a different kind of development model, with genuine needs, social
justice, including value addition, beneficiation, regional industrial value chains, local content, technology transfer,
responsible investment and equitable participation in global mineral value chains as important components.
The launch will feature an address by Mama Graça Machel, Founder of the Graça Machel Trust and Founder of
the Foundation for Community Development, Mozambique, and remarks by Dr Claude Kabemba, Executive
Director of SARW. The Blueprint will be presented by its lead author, Professor Fadhel Kaboub (Another
Development), followed by high-level discussions on advancing Africa’s industrialisation agenda, from strategy
to implementation.
Livestream – Launch Day, 9 September 2026: The public launch of the One Voice, One Strategy Blueprint will
be livestreamed on 9 September 2026. Those unable to attend in person can register to follow the launch online.
Register for livestreaming here. Time: 09:00–17:00. Venue: CT Hotel, Pretoria, South Africa.
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Media Accreditation and Attendance: Journalists and media representatives are invited to attend the launch and
will have an opportunity to engage with speakers, the authors of the One Voice, One Strategy Blueprint, and
participating experts. Media representatives are encouraged to register in advance here.
MEDIA ENQUIRY CONTACTS
For Interviews
Dr Claude Kabemba, Executive Director, SARW, Email: claudek@sarwatch.org, Cell: +27 63 404 3236
Davie Malungisa, Senior Advisor, SARW, Email: daviem@sarwatch.org, Cell: +27 69 018 0136
Dr Fadhel Kaboub, Another Development, Email: kaboubf@denison.edu, WhatsApp: + 254-114407740
For Administrative Enquiries, Contact
Georges Mbuyu, Email: georgesm@sarwatch.org, Cell: +27716583131
ENDS
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