South Africa is indispensable for our raw material supply

If we want to live and do business sustainably in the future, there is no way around South Africa. Robert Habeck is also aware of this. On Tuesday, he signed a declaration of intent with South Africa’s Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. In it, the two politicians agreed to step up cooperation on green hydrogen.

South Africa is ideal for this, as the country possesses a wide variety of platinum group metals. These are just as necessary for the electrolysis of green hydrogen as renewable energies. Ideal conditions for the latter prevail in the country, as there is plenty of sun and large open spaces for wind farms. (As we reported)

The agreement provides for closer cooperation between the two countries along the entire value chain of green hydrogen. This ranges from production and application to transport. Access to markets is also to be facilitated. According to Habeck, it is important that both countries benefit from this.

Habeck already performed the groundwork for the declaration of intent last year during his five-day visit to South Africa. During his stay at that time, the Economics Minister’s goal was to advance the energy transition and diversify the German energy and raw material supply in order to become more independent of China. Habeck is late to the game, as the Middle Kingdom has already invested in Africa’s economy, infrastructure, and development aid to secure access to raw materials.

Nevertheless, the current South African government is not fixated on China and is seeking dialogue with Europe. This presents opportunities. Especially since cooperation could expand into the field of rare earths: the Steenkampskraal mine, recently visited by our management, contains ore with the world’s highest rare earth content. With the help of abundant renewable energies and a newly developed Norwegian processing method, the mine owners intend to produce rare earths in the most environmentally friendly way to date. Everything is still open; negotiations are ongoing. For decisive investors, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime.

With South Africa, we would have a new potential supplier of the metals that are central to hydrogen production: platinum, palladium, iridium and ruthenium. In addition, the mine could also produce the four rare earths most important for building wind turbines: neodymium oxide, terbium oxide, praseodymium oxide and dysprosium oxide.

All of these raw materials, with the exception of iridium, are available through Noble BC. The growing demand for them is almost certain to drive prices up. An investment therefore offers the chance for attractive returns, which are also tax-free.