Mining global decarbonisation for development in Africa? Regional geopolitics and the question of South Africa in Africa

Abstract

Research into the geopolitics of ‘critical’ mineral mining is expanding. However, there remains a notable dearth of analysis concerned with addressing how global decarbonisation relates to regional relations and configurations of power. This absence is concerning given the relatively widespread acceptance that regional development strategies should be embraced by economies seeking to leverage their ‘green’ transition mineral endowment for industrialisation and development. This paper revisits the debate on character of the South African state in Africa, from the vantage point of the mineral intensity of global decarbonisation and the competitive dynamics of the contemporary global political economy. The paper primarily assesses the view that South Africa should be seen as a sub-imperialist actor in the maintenance of the global neoliberalism, arguing that this perspective offers a rigid view of the world capitalism and geopolitics and presents a thin theory of state formation and economic and social relations in the periphery. By examining South Africa's role in contemporary Zambia in the context of increasing international competition for access and control of Zambia's 'green' mineral reserves, the paper highlights the ambiguity of South African state action and the evolving and dynamic relations it forges with domestic and international class and state forces.