- Market growth, coming from growing demand for PGMs in green technologies, generates opportunities across Africa’s mining.
- According to the European Investment Bank, Africa has the potential to produce 50 million tons of green hydrogen per annum by 2035.
Market growth coming from growing demand for PGMs in green technologies, including hydrogen energy technologies, which in turn generate opportunities across Africa’s mining and hydrogen value chains.
According to market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the global market for platinum group metals (PGMs)—which include platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium, and ruthenium—will record a 4.47 per cent increase between now and 2029.
The continent is home to the world’s largest PGM reserves, with South Africa alone possessing over 80 per cent of global resources and Zimbabwe also holding substantial reserves. These metals play a vital role in fuel cell technology, enabling the production of electricity from hydrogen and oxygen.
As African countries – including Namibia, South Africa, Mauritania and Egypt – intensify their green hydrogen activities, long-term PGM demand will grow substantially, powering a wide range of applications from hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to stationary power generation to industrial processes.
According to the European Investment Bank, Africa has the potential to produce 50 million tons of green hydrogen per annum by 2035, which could help meet power, transportation and industrial energy needs, decarbonize heavy-polluting industries, and be used for global export.
Namibia is a pioneer of green hydrogen on the continent, having secured billions in investment for green hydrogen projects from various investors, including the USAID, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and the Japanese investment firm ITOCHU.
Furthermore, green energy firm Hyphen Hydrogen Energy is implementing a $10-billion project, with the capacity to produce 350,000 metric tons per year using 7 GW of renewable energy and 3 GW of hydrogen electrolysers.