The EU has signed critical mineral agreements with several African countries, yet progress on local value addition projects has been slow. And while African countries have ambitious agendas to produce consumer goods, EU authorities see Africa’s role as more limited to mineral processing. To be better partners, Europeans should make policy adjustments to encourage European participation in African mineral value chains. Mining companies’ specialisation, on the other hand, is limited to mineral extraction and varying degrees of mineral processing of the ore grades. For African policymakersOn the African side, more realism is needed in value addition strategies to ensure that progress is made in advancing up the mineral value chain.