Finance
Anglo CEO still sees future in Africa despite shrinking footprint
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad emphasizes Africa's importance for mineral resources despite asset sales, focusing on copper for clean energy.
(Reuters) -Anglo American still considers Africa to be part of its future due to its critical mineral resources, despite the mining company's recent restructuring and disposal of assets there, CEO Duncan Wanblad said on Wednesday.
Anglo American has exited its coal and platinum operations in South Africa, the country where it was founded over a century ago, and is selling diamond miner De Beers, as it shifts its focus to copper, a vital metal in the clean energy transition.
Kumba Iron Ore remains as its sole major asset in South Africa.
Despite those exits, Wanblad said Anglo planned to use South Africa as a window into the broader African continent's vast, under-explored mineral resources.
"I look at what the world needs in terms of minerals, I think Africa is the place to be," Wanblad said at a mining conference in Johannesburg.
"Hopefully, we'll be as big as we were in Africa in a couple of years time," he said.
Africa is home to large deposits of copper, cobalt, lithium and rare earth elements, which are used in solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles.
After fending off a takeover bid by Australia's BHP, Anglo American last month announced an agreement to merge with Canada's Teck Resources to create a copper heavyweight.
Wanblad said the diamond market was starting to bounce back from a three-year price slump, and Anglo was seeing "some real strategic interest" from potential buyers of De Beers.
De Beers had by June attracted interest from at least six prospective investors, while Angola's state diamond company Endiama announced last month it had bid for a minority stake in the company.
"These are parties that know the industry, that know the assets, that love diamonds. And that's all very positive," Wanblad said.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Joe Bavier)
Anglo American is a multinational mining company headquartered in London, known for its mining operations across various minerals, including diamonds, copper, and platinum.
Critical mineral resources are essential materials required for various technologies and industries, particularly in clean energy, such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements.
The diamond market refers to the global industry involved in the mining, trading, and selling of diamonds, which are valued for their beauty and rarity.
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