The African continent holds a substantial share of the world’s critical mineral reserves. For instance, more than 60 percent of reserves of key minerals such as cobalt and tantalum are located in Africa, McKinsey’s Adam Kendall, Agesan Rajagopaul, Richard Sellschop, Zak Gaibi, and Patricia Bingoto note. The continent also holds more than a quarter of the world’s known reserves of critical minerals such as manganese and graphite, underscoring its pivotal role in global supply chains. Amid global energy and technology transitions, demand for these minerals is only increasing, propelling unprecedented growth in African production capacity.
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Scatter plot comparing net trust in product research sources between Gen Z (n=929) and Boomers (n=1,448). Across both generations, offline sources are trusted most: friends and family recommendations, professional recommendations, and sales assistance rank highest, with Boomers reporting substantially higher trust than Gen Z. Traditional online search, brand websites, and online stores receive moderate trust, again with Boomers rating them higher. Among algorithm-driven channels, YouTube and online reviews are moderately trusted, while social media and generative AI responses receive the lowest trust scores. Gen Z reports slightly higher trust than Boomers in social media, while Boomers report higher trust in generative AI. Overall, despite increasing use of social media and generative AI for product research, consumers trust them less than other information sources.
This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool.
Source: McKinsey State of Consumer Survey, March–April 2026
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