Senegal has just launched a strategic study on critical minerals to better document its potential, guide its energy transition, and strengthen its mining sovereignty in the face of rising global geostrategic challenges.

Context: Why Critical Minerals Matter

So-called “critical” minerals (lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, manganese, rare earth elements, etc.) have become essential for batteries, electric vehicles, renewable energies, and the digital industry.

• The global energy transition is causing a surge in demand for these resources, placing Africa—and Senegal in particular—at the heart of new economic and technological rivalries.
• Historically, Senegal is best known for its phosphates, gold, zircon, and titanium, but its potential in critical minerals remains poorly documented and underexploited.

A Strategic Study Led by Civil Society

Faced with these challenges, the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) coalition in Senegal has launched a national project to map and analyze critical minerals.

The objective is to produce a strategic study that:

• lists the resources available within the country;
• identifies their potential uses in the Senegalese economy (energy, industry, agriculture, technology);
• proposes guidelines to avoid the raw export model, which still dominates the African mining sector.

This approach aims to complement public policies by providing independent expertise from civil society on the governance and transparency of the extractive sector.

A Matter of Sovereignty and Energy Transition

For Senegal, critical minerals are part of a dual strategy: securing its energy transition and strengthening its economic sovereignty.

The country is already developing renewable energy sources (particularly solar) and investing in gas while seeking to better leverage its mineral resources over the long term.

Critical minerals can:

• fuel local value chains (metallurgy, battery materials, cement, fertilizers, green technologies);
• attract industrial investment in local processing, rather than exporting low-value concentrates;
• support industrialization, job creation, and tax revenue, provided a robust governance framework is in place.

Opportunities but also risks to manage

This new “rush” for critical minerals offers a growth opportunity for Senegal, but it also carries well-known risks: environmental pressure, land-use conflicts, and limited local benefits if contracts are poorly negotiated.

The country has already demonstrated its awareness of these issues by suspending certain mining activities to protect fragile ecosystems, such as the Falémé River basin.

The strategic study therefore aims to:

• anticipate social and environmental impacts;
• Promote transparency in contracts and revenues, in line with international standards and the African Mining Vision;
• Place local communities at the heart of decision-making to ensure that the global energy transition does not come at their expense.

The Future of the Senegalese Mining Sector

By structuring a strategy around critical minerals, Senegal is sending a clear signal: it no longer wants to be merely a source of raw materials, but a key player in the global value chain.

If the study leads to coherent public policies (local content, on-site processing, appropriate taxation, environmental protection), the country could:

• Consolidate its position as a mining hub in West Africa;
• Better integrate oil, gas, mining, and renewables within a comprehensive vision of the energy transition;
• Demonstrate that responsible exploitation of critical minerals is possible, serving a more inclusive development model.

For investors as well as citizens, this strategic study will be a key test: that of Senegal’s ability to transform a geological potential into a genuine societal project, reconciling sovereignty, transparency and sustainable development.