India must pursue value-driven critical minerals diplomacy in Africa

The Strait of Hormuz crisis has turned energy resilience into a mineral-security story. With
roughly one-fifth of global petroleum liquids moving through Hormuz and recent disruptions
already impacting Indian LPG flows, the shock has exposed the dangers of the global
economy’s reliance on a handful of chokepoints.


For India, the lesson is stark: Supply chain resilience cannot rest on rerouted cargoes alone. It must also come from diversifying the critical mineral inputs that power batteries, grids, renewables, and the clean, sustainable economy India is building. In this shifting energy landscape, as mineral-rich African countries move from being peripheral players to emerging architects of global mineral supply chains, India has a timely opportunity to pursue deeper collaboration with renewed urgency and strategic purpose.

In an upcoming CSEP (Delhi-based Centre for Social and Economic Progress) paper, Beyond the Ore: India’s Value-driven Critical Minerals Diplomacy in Africa, Insights from Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania, Veda Vaidyanathan, Fellow in Foreign Policy and Security Studies at CSEP argued that India’s Africa strategy must move beyond extraction and concessional finance toward embedded partnerships built on technology transfer, capacity building, and shared value creation. Focusing on Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania, the paper suggests not simply where India should engage, but how.

In Zambia, the paper highlighted joint geological mapping, including GSI’s 9,000 sq km exploration area, as a foundation for long-term copper cooperation. In Zimbabwe, the paper made the case that ESG-compliant, community-oriented lithium mining can help India secure preferred access in a market shaped by value-addition rules and Chinese dominance. In Tanzania, the paper showed how workforce development, including the IIT Madras campus in Zanzibar, can help build the human capital needed for battery-grade value chains. Together, the results presented a sharp, policy-facing roadmap for making India a credible alternative in Africa’s mineral future: not just a buyer of ore, but a partner in governance, processing, and green industrialisation.