Africa holds billions of barrels of oil, trillions of cubic metres of gas and produces most of the world’s cobalt and manganese for electric car batteries.
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Africa → hold → batteries
This week, energy ministers, investors and oil executives are meeting in Cape Town for African Energy Week, which runs until October 16.
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which → meet → October
The conference focuses on investment in oil and gas, energy finance and ending energy poverty.
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conference → focus → poverty
In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera maps where Africa’s oil, gas and critical minerals are found, how its electricity is generated and who still goes without it.
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who → map → it
How much oil does Africa have?
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Africa → have → oil
Africa holds about 125 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, representing 7.2 percent of the global total.
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Africa → hold → total
Proven reserves are oil that has been discovered and can be extracted commercially with existing technology, but is still in the ground.
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that → discover → ground
Libya and Nigeria account for nearly 70 percent of Africa’s reserves, with 48.4 billion and 36.9 billion barrels, respectively.
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Libya → account → barrels
Algeria ranks third, with 12.2 billion barrels.
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Algeria → rank → barrels
Angola follows with 7.78 billion barrels, while South Sudan and Egypt hold 3.75 billion and 3.3 billion barrels, respectively.
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Sudan → follow → barrels
Nigeria was Africa’s largest oil producer in 2024, accounting for about 23 percent of the continent’s output.
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Nigeria → account → output
Algeria and Angola followed with about 17 percent each, and together the three produced 56 percent of Africa’s oil.
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three → follow → oil
The top five producers accounted for more than 80 percent.
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producers → account → percent
Africa as a whole produced 7.6 percent of the world’s crude oil, roughly in line with its share of global reserves.
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Africa → produce → reserves
Libya, which holds Africa’s largest proven reserves, ranked only fourth in production.
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which → hold → production
Italy’s Eni, France’s TotalEnergies and Spain’s Repsol are among the foreign companies operating in the country, where political disputes and blockades have repeatedly disrupted output.
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disputes → operate → output
Africa held almost 18 trillion cubic metres of proven natural gas reserves at the end of 2023.
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Africa → hold → 2023
Nigeria and Algeria hold about 58 percent of the total, followed by Mozambique with 2.84 trillion cubic metres, Egypt with 2.21 trillion and Libya with 1.51 trillion.
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Nigeria → hold → trillion
Algeria and Nigeria are also among Africa’s leading gas exporters, while much of Mozambique’s reserves, discovered offshore in the 2010s, remain largely undeveloped.
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much → lead → 2010s
Where do the critical minerals come from?
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minerals → come → Where
The African continent supplies a large share of the minerals used in electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy technologies.
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continent → supply → vehicles
In 2025, African countries accounted for 71.2 percent of global cobalt production and 72.4 percent of manganese production.
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countries → account → production
Cobalt is used in rechargeable batteries.
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Cobalt → use → batteries
Manganese is mainly used to strengthen steel, but it is also used in some electric vehicle batteries and in batteries that store renewable energy.
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that → use → energy
The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces nearly 70 percent of the world’s cobalt.
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Republic → produce → cobalt
Some of it is dug by hand by artisanal miners, and Amnesty International has documented dangerous and often deadly conditions in some of the country’s mines.
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International → dig → mines
South Africa produces nearly 38 percent of global manganese, followed by Gabon with nearly 25 percent.
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Africa → produce → percent
Together with Ghana, the three countries account for 72.4 percent of global production.
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countries → account → production
Zimbabwe, Africa’s largest lithium producer, accounted for 9.6 percent of global production in 2025.
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Zimbabwe → account → 2025
Lithium is used in rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles and store electricity from solar and wind.
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that → use → solar
Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania produced a combined 222,000 tonnes of natural graphite in 2025, or 11.9 percent of the global total.
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Madagascar → produce → total
Graphite is used in the anodes of most lithium-ion batteries, the negative electrodes that store and release energy, as well as in steel manufacturing, lubricants and pencils.
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that → use → manufacturing
How many African countries produce electricity from renewables?
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countries → produce → renewables
Renewable energy accounted for all electricity generated in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2024.
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energy → account → 2024
Uganda, Namibia and Eswatini each generated more than 96 percent from renewables, mostly hydropower.
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Uganda → generate → renewables
At the other end, renewables made up less than 5 percent in Algeria, Libya, Niger and Tunisia, which rely mainly on gas or oil.
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which → make → gas
Ethiopia’s electricity comes mostly from hydropower, led by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, Africa’s largest hydroelectric project.
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electricity → come → Nile
The dam began generating power in 2022 and was officially inaugurated in September 2025.
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dam → begin → September
Where do people have access to electricity?
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people → have → electricity
In 2024, six African countries reported universal electricity access: Algeria, Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Seychelles and Tunisia.
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countries → report → Algeria
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
