The EU’s new ambassador to South Africa, Kristian Schmidt, sees potential for South Africa to further integrate its industrial supply chains with Europe in a way that supports South Africa’s ambition to add value to its minerals ahead of export and the energy transitions under way in both territories. Schmidt says that the 27-country bloc needs minerals for batteries and electrification that it largely lacks domestically and is actively seeking new sources of supply to reduce its dependency on China, which has imposed export restrictions on some raw materials.
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02Nov2026
