Gauteng recovering its position as Africa's mining innovation capital – Maile

Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Development Lebogang Maile said that the province is recovering its position as Africa's mining innovation capital.

Maile made the comments to delegates at the Mining Indaba currently underway in Cape Town.

The gathering of mining giants, government leaders from across the world and investors wraps up on Thursday, after days of talks about the state of the industry.

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While primary mining accounts for a small portion of Gauteng’s GDP, Maile said the province hosts most of the continent’s mining finance, capital equipment manufacturers, corporate headquarters and technical expertise.

Maile said this positions Gauteng as a regional industrial hub, supporting cross-border mineral value chains under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), rather than competing with extraction-focused provinces or neighbouring countries.

“The future of mining in Africa will not be shaped by extraction alone, but by how we use mining to build integrated, high-value, and resilient industrial economies across the continent.”

He said if infrastructure, energy and logistical challenges are addressed, local processing and beneficiation of critical minerals could create more than two million jobs and boost Africa’s GDP by 12%.