The Africans for Africa (AFA) Initiative has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tanzania-based KNY Chemicals to promote responsible, sustainable, and commercially viable management of mining tailings across Africa.
The agreement, signed shortly after the fifth African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS), seeks to strengthen collaboration on mineral processing and support environmentally responsible mining practices while unlocking additional economic value from mine waste.
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Under the partnership, KNY Chemicals will contribute its expertise in specialised mining reagents and processing chemicals, while AFA will leverage its investment platform to support the development of high-impact mining infrastructure and mineral processing projects across the continent.
According to the partners, the collaboration will initially focus on developing tailings management projects in East Africa, with the aim of transforming mining waste into economically valuable resources while reducing the environmental impact of mining activities.
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Speaking on the partnership, AFA Co-founder, Suleiman Zakari, said the agreement reflects the organisation’s commitment to building stronger regional partnerships that support Africa’s industrialisation agenda.
He said KNY Chemicals represents the pinnacle of industrial chemical expertise in East Africa, noting that “by integrating their capabilities into our ecosystem, we are creating a blueprint for efficient, circular mineral processing that spans the continent.”
Mr Zakari further mentioned that “the strength of the AFA ecosystem lies in our ability to connect leading African operators across different regions”.
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He explained that the partnership forms part of AFA’s broader strategy to ensure more value is retained within Africa’s mineral sector by promoting local beneficiation, processing, and industrial development.
Also speaking, the finance and strategy director of KNY Chemicals, Simon Karunditu, said the partnership provides an opportunity to deploy the company’s specialised mining chemical solutions across multiple African mining jurisdictions.
He said: “We share a common vision that Africa’s mining industry must evolve through innovation. By combining our chemical processing capabilities with AFA’s investment and technical infrastructure, we are setting a new standard for sustainable tailings management.
“Partnering with the AFA Initiative offers a unique opportunity to apply our specialised mining chemical solutions on a pan-African scale,” Mr Karunditu said.
The MoU outlines a framework for joint research and project development to identify beneficiation pathways that utilise locally sourced chemical inputs. The partners said this approach aligns with efforts to deepen local value addition and reduce dependence on imported processing solutions.
The growing concern
Mining tailings, which are the waste materials left after mineral extraction, have become a growing environmental concern globally due to the risks they pose to water resources, ecosystems, and surrounding communities when poorly managed.
Industry experts increasingly view improved tailings management and mineral recovery as critical to sustainable mining and the transition towards a circular economy.
The AFA-KNY partnership seeks to address these challenges by promoting technologies and practices that improve mineral recovery from tailings while reducing environmental liabilities.
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About the partners
The Africans for Africa Initiative is a specialised institution focused on advancing resource sovereignty and value addition across the continent. Through the AFA Mining Fund I, the organisation invests in critical mineral projects that align with its 51 per cent Total African Benefit (TAB) model, which prioritises African ownership, industrialisation, and long-term economic value.
KNY Chemicals, headquartered in Tanzania, is one of East Africa’s leading suppliers of mining chemicals and mineral processing reagents, offering chemical solutions to improve operational efficiency and ensure environmental compliance across the mining sector.
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