On Wednesday, July 22, at 10 am PT, the Pacific Council will host a webinar to take stock of the complex and often contradictory effects of the critical minerals industry on Africa. As global demand for cobalt, lithium, copper, and rare earth elements surges, driven by the clean energy transition, the continent finds itself at the center of an extraordinary economic opportunity and an equally extraordinary set of risks. The minerals powering the world's green future are, in many cases, extracted under conditions that raise serious questions about equity, governance, and environmental stewardship.

The conversation will examine both the promise and the peril of Africa's mineral wealth, exploring how nations can move beyond raw extraction to capture greater value along the supply chain, what governance frameworks are needed to protect communities and ecosystems, and how the global scramble for minerals is reshaping Africa's economic and political agency. Attendees will hear from Kidan Araya, Founder and Director of the Africa Climate x Nature Salon; Kristi M. Rogers, Co-Founder & President, PRISM; Dr. Vera Songwe, Chair of the Board of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility; and British A. Robinson, Chair and Managing Director, Africa, Milken Institute, and Africa Senior Fellow at the Pacific Council.

Why it's important

• Processing critical minerals within Africa rather than exporting them in raw form could generate roughly 2.3 million jobs and raise continental GDP by approximately 12 percent. This offers a meaningful path toward addressing chronic unemployment, which in countries like South Africa reaches nearly 44 percent among young people. 
• Africa's vast reserves of cobalt, lithium, and copper are indispensable for the batteries and renewable energy technologies underpinning the global green transition, yet this geological abundance is complicated by a profound paradox: the very minerals enabling global decarbonization are often extracted under conditions that inflict severe environmental and socioeconomic costs on local communities.
• By the end of the decade, global demand for minerals such as lithium, cobalt, rare earths, and graphite is expected to double or even triple. As African countries continue to industrialize their mineral sectors and strengthen collective regional trade partnerships, the terms on which the West engages with the continent will come under increasing scrutiny.

To register for this webinar, visit the Zoom Registration Page.

Guest Speaker

Kidan Araya is the Founder and Director of the Africa Climate x Nature Salon, a platform that translates frontline innovation into scalable strategies that address Africa's most urgent energy and environmental challenges. 

From the rainforests of the Congo Basin to Congress in Washington, D.C., Kidan Araya has spent more than a decade working with communities, government agencies, and international organizations on environmental advocacy, policy, and communications. She is a strategist and storyteller advising at the intersections of energy, nature, critical minerals, and emerging technologies across Africa and North America. 

Kidan serves as an expert speaker for the U.S. Department of State’s U.S. Speaker Program, and she previously testified as a congressional witness before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on the impacts of illicit natural resource trade on African communities. She was named one of the Top 10 voices communicating on climate change in Africa on Twitter by Africa No Filter.

Guest Speaker

Kristi M. Rogers is a distinguished executive and former senior U.S. government official with extensive international leadership experience across the public and private sectors. Her strategic counsel is sought by corporate leaders and policymakers on global supply chain resilience, national security, federal contracting, security and disaster response, crisis communications, and the role of business in complex and dynamic environments.

She is the Founder and CEO of P2P Strategies, a strategic positioning and advisory firm operating at the most senior levels of industry and government. P2P Strategies focuses on developing constructive solutions to multifaceted public policy challenges and helping organizations successfully navigate complex regulatory, operational, and reputational issues. In April 2020, Kristi founded and continues to lead an industry-led Global Supply Chain Task Force, which evolved in 2024 into PRISM, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to advancing resilient, secure, and trusted supply chains.

A former start-up CEO, Kristi has successfully launched, managed, and grew two companies with overseas operations, demonstrating proven entrepreneurial and cross-border operational expertise. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Qualys, Inc., a publicly traded cybersecurity company, where she chairs the Nomination & Governance Committee and serves on the Compensation & Talent Committee. She also serves on the Board of NowSecure, a leading private mobile application security company, where she serves on the Audit and HR & Compensation Committees.

Kristi further contributes to national security and foreign policy through her board and advisory roles. She serves on the Board of Business Executives for National Security (BENS) and chairs the Board of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group. In addition, she serves on the Advisory Councils of ForgePoint Capital, George Mason University’s National Security Institute, and the Silverado Policy Accelerator. She was recognized by WomenInc. as one of the 2019 Most Influential Corporate Directors. In June 2020, she was appointed to the BENS Commission on the National Response Enterprise, chaired by former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary, the Honorable Jeh Johnson, and the Chairman & CEO of Johnson & Johnson, Alex Gorsky.

Previously, Kristi served as a senior executive in the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Defense, and Homeland Security. While at the Department of Defense, she spent just under a year in Iraq.  Kristi has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Africa in support of U.S. economic and national security objectives. She currently serves as President of the State Society of Michigan and is a regular speaker on global supply chains, critical infrastructure, and international business issues. Kristi and her husband, Mike, are passionate advocates for improving literacy across the United States.

Guest Speaker

Dr. Vera Songwe is a globally respected economist, development finance expert, and senior international leader with deep experience across public, private, and multilateral sectors. She is Chair and Founder of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility, a financial mechanism designed to improve liquidity for emerging markets and support sustainable development and climate finance. She also served as a senior advisor to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), focusing on financial stability, credit risk cycles, and regulatory innovation. She is Visiting Professor of Practice at CETEx–LSE and Non-resident Senior Fellow, Global Economy Development and the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

Dr. Songwe previously held the highest regional leadership position at the United Nations serving as Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). In this role she became the first woman to lead the organisation in its 60 year history, driving strategic reforms on macroeconomic stability, private sector growth, development finance, and the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Her career includes senior leadership positions at the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where she managed multi-billion-dollar portfolios and championed fiscal policy, economic governance, and innovative financing for development across Africa and beyond. She also began her professional journey as a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and the University of Southern California.

Dr. Songwe’s thought leadership extends to climate finance and global economic policy. She is Co-Chair of the Independent High-Level Expert Panel on Climate Finance, has served multiple G20 commissions and contributes to key international initiatives at the intersection of sustainability, finance, and economic transformation.

Her academic credentials include a PhD in Mathematical Economics from the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics, Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, a Master’s in Law and Economics, and a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Michigan. She has been consistently recognised among Africa’s most influential leaders by the Financial Times, Forbes, Jeune Afrique, and other global outlets.

Moderator 

British A. Robinson is a true changemaker and influencer with a passion for solving some of the world's most intractable problems. Since beginning her career in private banking and retail operations at Citibank, she has gone on to lead transformative nonprofit and government initiatives around the globe. Robinson brings a unique, dynamic combination of strategic vision, financial acumen, empathy, on-the-ground experience, energy, and a laser focus on execution to her work.

A mission-driven executive, seasoned diplomat, and development finance leader with expertise in blended finance, impact investing, and capital mobilization, she has spearheaded large-scale, innovative presidential initiatives to drive economic growth and improve public health through public-private partnerships, corporate social responsibility initiatives, government relations, advocacy, and policy to create lasting impact.

Of all the causes Robinson has had the privilege of championing, she considers the opportunity to improve lives and livelihoods in Africa her greatest passion. To that end, she has spent decades cultivating innovative partnerships that create jobs, support businesses, and establish life-saving systems and infrastructure, bolstering economic prosperity and health outcomes across the continent.

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To register for this webinar, visit the Zoom Registration Page.