Bravura Holdings Ltd., owned by Nigerian tycoon Benedict Peters, is set to begin production at a Zimbabwean lithium project next year, according to a company official.
Despite the weak price of the battery metal, Bravura’s group general manager, Gbenga Ojo, confirmed on Tuesday that the miner remains committed to commissioning the Kamativi lithium tailings project in 2025, Bloomberg reported.
Africa is home to some of the world’s largest lithium reserves and notably, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali have this resource in commercial quantities.
Lithium is a raw material essential for the world’s energy transition. The growing global demand for lithium in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, renewable energy storage, and other applications has fuelled its worth.
However, prices have crashed about 80% from the peak of a boom in 2022 due to oversupply. Despite the current market conditions, Bravura’s plans remain unaffected.
“We are so confident about it,” Ojo said in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. “Even if it remains like this, we will go ahead with our project.”
Lithium exploration in Africa
Africa is gradually becoming a prime investment destination for players in the EV ecosystem seeking to secure sufficient lithium resources for their use.
Active lithium mining and exploration projects are soaring in different parts of the continent like Namibia, Mali, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). However, these projects are still small relative to the number of projects developed in the Americas, Australia and Europe.
