Africa’s link to AI chips

Africa’s link to AI chips

Africa’s critical minerals could play a central role in the AI chip market boom.  

By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and Endorphin Expeditions and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine.   

Africa hosts all +14 minerals essential for AI chip production. Most readers in the WhyAfrica network will be familiar with many of them, including tin, copper, cobalt, tantalum and tungsten, which we all know are found in abundance in Central and Southern Africa.

But there are other less known minerals that are key components of AI chips that has piqued my interest. Germanium, for example, is used in some transistors and high-performance semiconductors due to its ability to operate at high speeds.

Germanium and REEs

Germanium is very interesting. It’s a relatively rare element and in Africa is not found in large quantities as a primary mineral. However, it can be extracted as a by-product from particularly zinc, copper and coal deposits.

In South Africa, Germanium has been found in trace amounts in coal deposits and some coal mines have produced Germanium as a by-product during coal processing.

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) like Neodymium and Dysprosium are used in the production of magnets in hard drives while Lanthanum (also a REE) is used in the production of semiconductors and magnets.

The challenge with REEs of course lies in the processing and separation, which is complex and costly. Nevertheless, REEs are abundant in Southern and Central Africa.

Other key minerals used in the production of AI chips include, amongst others, Silicon, Gold, Lithium, Aluminum and Arsenic.

The AI chip market boom

The AI chip market has grown tremendously over the past few years, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down in 2025.

According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, after two straight years of 30% annual growth, the global AI chip market is close to reaching a massive $100 billion value.

According to the latest Gartner survey released earlier this month, the global AI chip market is expected to grow by 29% and hit nearly $92 billion value in 2025, following an impressive 32% surge from last year.

“With this pace of growth, the market will continue adding around $20 billion in value annually, meaning it could reach the $100 billion mark in the first half of 2026.” (source: Stocklytics.com and Gartner).

WhyAfrica’s research reports

WhyAfrica is busy working on a research report about less know minerals and their less known applications in the global markets that will be available to purchase on our online shop soon.

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Africa’s link to AI chips