By pulling out of Tanzania's Kabanga project, the Australian mining giant has once again demonstrated its difficulty in establishing a lasting presence in Africa. The sale of its indirect minority stake in this nickel venture continues a two-decade pattern of advances and retreats within the African mining sector. This marks another chapter in a relationship defined by both ambition and disillusionment on the continent.

Australian mining group BHP has been operating in Africa since the 1990s, before its renewed interest in the continent's mineral resources. In 1994, the company partnered with Delta Gold to develop Zimbabwe's Hartley platinum deposit. In 1999, it faced an early setback announcing the sale of its 67% stake in the project. John Grubb, head of BHP's local subsidiary, stated at the time that $585 million had been invested in the deposit, yielding only $40 million in returns.

“Despite BHP's and Zimbabwe Platinum Mines' best endeavors and positive support from the government of Zimbabwe during all phases of the development of Hartley, it has not been possible to overcome the operational and financial under-performance,” Grubb explained.

Risk Aversion?

In the 2000s, BHP significantly re-entered the African mining sector following its merger with Billiton in 2001. The newly formed BHP Billiton maintained a strong African presence for over a decade, operating smelters in South Africa and Mozambique, alongside coal and manganese mines in South Africa. During this period, BHP Billiton's share price increased more than eightfold between late 2001 and the end of 2014.

Less than a year later, a demerger reshaped the group when BHP spun off most assets acquired in the 2001 merger. These assets are now operated by South32.

While this demerger significantly reduced BHP's African footprint, it continued a series of quiet exits from the continent. Around the same time, BHP withdrew from the Tenke Fungurume project, despite securing rights from DRC’s Gécamines in 1998 to acquire a majority stake in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) copper deposit. In 2009, it ended diamond exploration activities in Angola and titanium minerals operations in Mozambique.

The retreat continued when BHP decided to sell its 33.3% interest, acquired for $140 million in 2007, in a bauxite refinery project. This project aimed to build an alumina refinery in Sangaredi, Guinea, with a planned annual capacity of 3.6 million metric tons. However, the project's estimated value, once set at $5.2 billion, declined in 2013 amid restructuring in BHP Billiton's aluminum division and weak global demand.

The retreat continued when BHP decided to sell its 33.3% interest, acquired for $140 million in 2007, in a bauxite refinery project.

In 2013, the company also exited the manganese deposit held by its subsidiary Samancor in Gabon. In 2019, it withdrew from the Nimba iron ore project in Guinea, alongside Newmont Gold and France's Orano.

These various exits indicate a clear risk aversion within the Australian group. CEO Andrew Mackenzie, who served until 2020, openly acknowledged this conservative approach as early as 2013. He stated that his investment strategy would involve scaling back operations in regions considered high risk, such as Africa, noting, “Our decision to focus on the OECD was deliberate and I would argue increasingly looks like the right call.”

A Cautious Return 

With Mike Henry taking over in early 2020, BHP cautiously re-entered Africa. The energy transition increased the appeal of copper and nickel. Concurrently, a perceived improvement in Africa's business climate created new opportunities.

The energy transition increased the appeal of copper and nickel. Concurrently, a perceived improvement in Africa's business climate created new opportunities.

“Africa is finally back on BHP’s list, 10 years after the major exited the continent. Africa’s geology and opportunity of scale were surely known to BHP all along, but the above-the-ground conditions in Southern Africa needed to change. Recent improvements have convinced BHP to return to the continent,” stated the authors of the Mining in Africa Country Investment Guide, published in January 2025.

Signs of renewed interest appeared as early as 2021 when Bloomberg reported talks between Ivanhoe Mines and BHP regarding the Western Foreland copper deposit in the DRC. CEO Mike Henry stated at the time that the group had the means to seize opportunities in jurisdictions some consider more difficult.

While interest in the DRC was never formally confirmed or translated into investment, BHP took a first tangible step back into Africa in 2022. The Australian group announced an initial $40 million investment in the Kabanga nickel project in Tanzania. The project's estimated annual output was 40,000 metric tons of nickel, 6,000 metric tons of copper, and 3,000 metric tons of cobalt. BHP's initial 8.9% stake in the project's holding company doubled to 17.8% in 2023, and the group secured an option to increase its share to 60.7%.

At the same time, BHP launched its Xplor accelerator in August 2022, offering grants of up to $500,000 and technical mentoring to junior miners exploring for copper or nickel. The first cohort, announced in January 2023, included Tutume Metals, which searches for critical minerals in Botswana. In early 2024, the second cohort included Australia's Cobre Limited, highly active in copper exploration in Botswana. Through an investment of up to $25 million, BHP signed an agreement in March 2025 to acquire up to 75% of Cobre's Kitlanya copper projects (East and West).

In 2024, BHP unveiled ambitions of a very different scale, offering up to $49 billion to acquire Anglo American.

In 2024, BHP unveiled ambitions of a very different scale, offering up to $49 billion to acquire Anglo American. The bid, intended to strengthen BHP's global copper presence, particularly through Anglo's Latin American copper assets, also implied a deeper return to Africa. While the offer was conditional on Anglo spinning off its platinum and diamond subsidiaries, primarily in Southern Africa, BHP would retain the iron ore division in South Africa.

What Future for BHP in Africa?

The bid with Anglo American ultimately failed in late May 2024 after continued rejection by shareholders of the London-based group. Just over a year later, BHP sold its 17% stake in Kabanga Nickel to Lifezone Metals for up to $83 million. The group gave no official reason, but the exit occurred after BHP placed its Western Australia Nickel operations into care and maintenance.

"The decision to temporarily suspend Western Australia Nickel follows oversupply in the global nickel market. Forward consensus nickel prices over the next half of the decade have fallen sharply reflecting strong growth of alternative low-cost nickel supply [mainly from Indonesia]," BHP noted.

While these recent setbacks have not yet derailed BHP's African ambitions, the group continues to move cautiously, as shown by its limited involvement in Botswana. The only major move tied to the continent, the Anglo American bid, primarily aimed at copper deposits in Chile and Peru.

While these recent setbacks have not yet derailed BHP's African ambitions, the group continues to move cautiously

Yet, the world's other major global copper reserve lies in Africa, particularly the DRC. As the world's second-largest copper producer, exporting over 3 million metric tons in 2024, the country has become a key destination for securing world-class deposits. Together with Zambia and Namibia, Africa also holds 30% of global reserves of critical minerals. Eventually, the world's largest listed mining group may be forced to choose between growth prospects and risk aversion. To sideline the continent would mean turning away from a third of the terrain where the energy transition's metals race is being played out.

Emiliano Tossou