The power of Africa’s US$2tn internal capital pool
Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking has approved a U$700m loan to support Ivanhoe Mines’ expansion of the Platreef platinum group metals project in South Africa.
The funding will support construction of the Phase Two concentrator at Platreef, a processing facility with a planned annual capacity of 3.3 million tonnes. Development of the project began in April this year.
The transaction comes as South Africa seeks to mobilise R2tn over the next five years to expand its critical minerals sector.
Nedbank’s financing underscores the growing role of South Africa’s banking sector in helping bridge the funding gap required for large-scale mining developments.
The country is estimated to hold around R40tn in iron ore potential and remains the world’s largest producer of platinum group metals, chrome and manganese.
More broadly, the deal highlights the scale of Africa’s domestic capital pools, with non-bank institutional funding sources across the continent now estimated to exceed US$2tn.
Combined with commercial banking and international investment flows, these capital sources could play a significant role in unlocking Africa’s estimated US$8.5tn in untapped mineral wealth while reducing dependence on external financing.
Industry analysts say innovative financing mechanisms will become increasingly important as African mining jurisdictions compete for investment across the mineral value chain.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, is seeking investment to develop an estimated US$24tn in mineral resources, while Zimbabwe aims to raise US$950m to expand production across its gold, lithium, platinum and chrome sectors.
Against this backdrop, mining finance and investment strategies are expected to feature prominently at the African Mining Week 2026, which will take place in Cape Town from 14 to 16 October.
The conference is expected to bring together financiers, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, mining companies and development institutions to discuss ways of unlocking capital for Africa’s mining sector. - Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.
