South Africa wants to become a mineral processing hub for the continent, which would strengthen both the country's economy and position as a middleman between China and Africa, Reuters quoted its foreign minister as saying today. An agreement that will provide a framework for Chinese investment in processing plants as well as increased diplomatic and economic ties would be signed during an upcoming visit by South African President Jacob Zuma to China, Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said after meetings in Beijing. South Africa is now China's fourth-largest iron ore supplier, and a conduit for cobalt and other minerals from central Africa. But it has been developing a policy of "beneficiation" or value-added processing, to try and retain jobs and revenue from its own, and its neighbours', mineral resources. "What's in this for us? It's a lot. If you sell raw material and there's no processing or beneficiation, you get less for the precious minerals that are not infinite," Nkoana-Mashabane said. "You don't want to be left with just big holes." Nkoana-Mashabane said the new agreement will provide incentives and training to facilitate investment from China, which sees South Africa as a stepping stone for investment into the continent, because of its mature financial industry. In 2007, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China 601398.SS bought a 20 percent stake in South Africa's Standard Bank , a move that will allow it to tap that bank's financing experience while channelling Chinese commercial investment to African projects . South African policy banks will also partner with China to integrate transnational African infrastructure, especially roads, a project Chinese firms were initially hesitant about, she said.
