Mining Series 2026 Panel Discussion: Powering Critical Minerals in Southern Africa - Making Renewable Energy Bankable for Critical Minerals Projects

Southern Africa has a significant clean energy opportunity, underpinned by world-class renewable resources and growing demand from energy-intensive sectors such as mining and minerals processing.Renewable energy is now essential to unlocking critical minerals; however, many projects continue to stall due to coordination challenges between mining and power developments, infrastructure constraints, market and regulatory friction, and financing approaches that work for individual transactions but are difficult to replicate at scale.This session, as part of Invest Africa's Mining Series 2026 and hosted in partnership with Growth Gateway, brough together senior leaders from government, mining, energy development and finance to focus on what actually unlocks delivery. Panellists discussed where projects break down in practice, what has helped projects move forward, and how different actors can work together to support repeatable, investable outcomes. Speakers:- Hon. Dean Macpherson, Minister of Public Works & Infrastructure, Republic of South Africa - H.E. Antony Phillipson CMG, High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland- Dalu Ajene, CEO & Head of Coverage, Africa, Standard Chartered- Lucas Chaumontet, Managing Director & Senior Partner, BCG- Jed Goldstein, Infrastructure Lead, First Quantum Minerals- Isabel Fick, Group Head of Trading and Operations, Africa GreenCo- Lisa Pinsley, Fund Head: African Transition Acceleration Fund | African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM)- Kesh Mudaly, Managing Director & Partner, BCG (moderator)