AUDA-NEPAD Launches Africa Semiconductor Technical Advisory Group (ASTAG) to Drive Continental Technological Sovereignty

MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA — The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), South Africa's Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), and NINA JOJER Africa, has officially launched the Africa Semiconductor Technical Advisory Group (ASTAG).

This newly formed advisory mechanism marks a historic turning point as Africa transitions from conceptual frameworks to structured, coordinated action in building its first integrated, cross-continental semiconductor value chain. Convened under a 12-month mandate, ASTAG will provide strategic, technical, and coordination support to ensure Africa participates as a credible partner—and not merely a raw material supplier—in the global semiconductor ecosystem.

A Strategic Inflection Point

The establishment of ASTAG follows a landmark continental workshop, "From Minerals to Microchips: Laying the Foundations for Africa's Semiconductor Industry," and the Africa Semiconductor Investors Forum, which confirmed that Africa already possesses meaningful pockets of capability in chip design, prototyping, and fabrication distributed across regional institutions. Rather than building capability from scratch, ASTAG’s primary mandate is to upgrade, repurpose, and systematically network these dispersed assets into highly competitive regional clusters.

"Africa has reached a strategic inflection point," said Prof. Brando Okolo, Head of Science, Technology and Innovation at AUDA-NEPAD. "We already host capabilities at institutions like the University of Pretoria and Dedan Kimathi University of Technology. ASTAG’s role is to ensure these nodes operate as an integrated continental ecosystem rather than a fragmented set of national efforts, preventing duplication and maximising our collective bargaining power."

Capitalising on Geopolitical Reconfiguration and Mineral Wealth

ASTAG’s launch comes at a geopolitically consequential moment. As global economies commit over US$200 billion through frameworks like the US CHIPS and Science Act, the European Chips Act, and South Korea's K-Chip Act to secure supply chains, Africa is positioning itself to leverage its massive resource endowment.

The continent holds an estimated 30 percent of the world's known critical mineral reserves—including cobalt, lithium, tantalum, platinum group metals, and silicon-grade quartz. By linking these essential semiconductor inputs with a young, rapidly growing technical talent base, Africa is establishing real leverage for technology transfer negotiations, strategic industrialisation, and positioning itself for global partnerships.

Driving Delivery Across Seven Thematic Work streams

With AUDA-NEPAD serving as the ASTAG Secretariat under a rigorous governance framework, the group comprises appointed experts from government, industry, academia, research, and investment. Technical delivery will be executed across seven core work streams:

• WS1: Minerals & Materials – Critical mineral governance and processing linkage.
• WS2: Skills & Capabilities – Engineering talent pipelines, EDA training, and industry certifications.
• WS3: Infrastructure & OSAT – Developing packaging, assembly, and testing capacity.
• WS4: Innovation & Design – Advancing fabless design capacity, RISC-V adoption, and university-industry linkages.
• WS5: Policy & Regulation – Industrial policy formulation and standards harmonisation.
• WS6: Partnerships & Investment – Mobilising private sector capital, bilateral transfers, and development finance institutions (DFIs) like AfDB, AFC, and Afreximbank.
• WS7: Demand-Side Applications – Customising semiconductor-enabled systems for energy, health, agriculture, mobility, and fintech.

Over its 12-month mandate, ASTAG will deliver a refined Africa Semiconductor Roadmap (2026–2030), a comprehensive continental asset visibility map, and actionable frameworks for pooled regional infrastructure access. All outputs are explicitly designed to align with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, STISA-2034, and the operational goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

About AUDA-NEPAD: The African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) is the development agency of the African Union, mandated to coordinate and execute priority regional and continental projects to promote regional integration towards the accelerated realisation of Agenda 2063.

Media & Partnership Enquiries: For further enquiries, please reach out to Chifundo Kungade ([email protected]), Palesa Kganane ([email protected]), Timi Lawal ([email protected]), or Shiela Wetugi ([email protected]).