The financial commitments made during the G20 heads of state summit last November, such as the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) $1 billion (about R16bn) pledge for artificial intelligence development, should be used for building an efficient mining system.
At the recent annual lnvesting in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe acknowledged that South Africa continues to face challenges in developing an effective cadastre system for exploration and mining licences.
Integrating AI could help build a more efficient system, one that restored investor confidence, accelerated licensing approvals and reduced opportunities for corruption.
Analysts estimate that R70bn is lost annually because of unregulated mining. In response, the government has implemented Operation Vala Umgodi, a police-led crackdown on illegal mining, alongside enforcement of the Mineral and Petroleum Development Act to formalise small-scale activities.
However, the department’s progress in modernising the licensing system to a digital cadastre has been slow. When operational and integrated, the digital cadastre would allow companies and regulators to manage mining rights applications online and enhance efficiency.
“It is urgent, it is slow. Actually we have discovered that the veracity of the information determines the efficiency of the system and that is making us slower than we imagined,” Mantashe said.
The department, he said, had invested more than R2bn in exploration funding to support junior miners. Of the eight projects funded, four were ready to begin mining. Rich with critical minerals, entrance to the sector was, however, hampered by backlogs and dated infrastructure.
Mantashe said the government was “working very hard to improve our licensing system”.
“Our objective is to deepen collaboration, accelerate responsible exploration and mining and ensure that Africa captures greater value from its own mineral endowment,” he said.
Using its competitive advantage in oil mining, the UAE funded its economic diversification by investing in technology, infrastructure and digital efficiency.
A sovereign wealth fund allowed the country to move away from its oil dependency to a point where oil-related activities contribute just about 20% to its GDP.
The UAE’s mining and resource management framework grants provinces — or Emirates, such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai — control over their minerals while operating under state-owned enterprises. Revenue from oil was channelled to a sovereign wealth fund that invested in geo-analysis and rail networks. Recently, the UAE has expanded its framework to include digital assets such as bitcoin mining and high-tech minerals such as copper and lithium.
Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi, the UAE assistant minister of foreign affairs for development and international organisations, said the G20 AI for Development initiative was designed to support Africa’s development priorities by applying AI to improve public service delivery.
“The initiative aims to support and finance artificial intelligence projects in African countries in order to strengthen digital infrastructure, improve government services and enhance productivity and quality of life for citizens,” he said.
South Africa stood out as a pivotal economy with relatively advanced digital infrastructure and an institutional base capable of absorbing, scaling and leading AI projects and extending their impact across the region, Al Shamsi said.
“This makes it a logical starting point for achieving a demonstrative impact that can be replicated across other African countries.”
Al Shamsi said Africa had been selected because of its vast untapped growth potential and its urgent need for scalable development solutions in sectors such as mining, education, healthcare, agriculture and digital government.
The UAE maintained strong economic ties with South Africa, its second-largest trading partner in Africa, accounting for 8% of non-oil trade.
The country was seeking partnerships that moved beyond extraction to industrialisation and value addition closer to the point of production, Mantashe said.
“As per the G20 declaration, this achievement has not only shaped South Africa’s critical minerals agenda; it has also positioned Africa more broadly to assert greater control over its strategic resources,” he said.
Between February 2025 and January 2026, the department had granted 358 prospecting rights and 32 mining rights, which Mantashe said demonstrated continued confidence in South Africa as a mining investment destination of choice.
“We are committed to honouring that confidence by driving a fair, efficient and transparent licensing system that supports growth while protecting our national interests.”
The strategy also included a review of South Africa’s regulatory framework. The UAE’s advances in geological mapping systems and economic diversification should be an example for African countries to emulate.
Mantashe reaffirmed the government’s commitment to “creating a regulatory framework that is more certain, more predictable and more transparent — one that attracts investment while ensuring that the benefits of our mineral wealth are shared equitably with all South Africans”.
He said the theme of the indaba, Stronger Together: Progress Through Partnerships, was “not merely a slogan; it is a strategic imperative for Africa to act collectively, speak in one voice and avoid the destructive race to the bottom in our engagement with global powers and investors”.
The African Ministers’ Critical Minerals Roundtable, hosted with the African Union on the sidelines of the indaba, was described as a platform that would strengthen continental leadership on minerals.
Minerals Minister Gwede Mantashe says the country faces challenges in developing an effective system for exploration and mining licences
