Globally, Australia remained the clear leader in 2023, with 1.67 million tonnes of identified recoverable uranium, or 28% of the world total, according to OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and International Atomic Energy Agency data.
Kazakhstan followed with 813,900 tonnes and Canada with 582,000 tonnes, giving the three countries 52% of global identified resources.
Africa, however, holds several of the next major uranium resource bases, with Namibia ranking fourth globally at 497,900 tonnes, followed by Niger with 336,000 tonnes and South Africa with 320,900 tonnes.
Meanwhile, Namibia ranks even higher in production, standing as the world’s third-largest uranium producer after Kazakhstan and Canada after record output last year topped 10,000 tonnes of U3O8, commonly known as yellowcake.
Botswana, with 87,200 tonnes, and Tanzania, with 57,700 tonnes, add further depth to Africa’s long-term supply position.
Africa attracts fresh exploration capital
The OECD-NEA/IAEA Red Book put global uranium exploration and mine development spending at an expected $840 million in 2023, up 5% from 2022.
Africa’s share rose from 4% of reported global expenditure in 2020 to 12% in 2022, before easing to an estimated 9% in 2023.
Namibia has drawn the largest share of African spending, with exploration and mine development expenditure rising from $11 million in 2020 to $86 million in 2022, before easing to an expected $75 million in 2023.
Over the same period, about 342,436 metres were drilled in the country, most of it linked to uranium exploration.
The country produced 5,754 tonnes of uranium in 2021 and 5,612 tonnes in 2022, before output rose 25% to 6,985 tonnes in 2023, driven by Husab and Rössing.
In 2024, it produced 7,333 tonnes, placing it behind only Kazakhstan and Canada among global producers, according to the World Nuclear Association.
By 2025 and early 2026, Namibia’s position had strengthened further, with Reuters reporting that uranium output rose 22% year on year in the first 10 months of 2025 while as Paladin Energy moved to ramp up Langer Heinrich.
Niger shifts from supplier to risk centre
By contrast, Niger remains one of Africa’s established uranium producers, as it reshapes the sector around greater domestic control and long-term project development.
Niger’s uranium output fell from 2,248 tonnes in 2021, produced from Arlit and Akouta, to 2,020 tonnes in 2022, all from Arlit, after Cominak shut the Akouta mine in March 2021 following more than 40 years of operation and 75,000 tonnes extracted.
In October 2022, SOMAIR, the Arlit uranium producer historically operated by French nuclear fuel company Orano, commissioned a new heap-leach area to process low-grade ore and extend the mine’s life.
However, political turmoil following the July 2023 coup disrupted chemical supplies and forced SOMAIR to halt yellowcake production in September 2023, although mining operations continued.
The disruption widened in 2024, when Niger withdrew Orano’s Imouraren permit in June and cancelled GoviEx’s Madaouela rights a month later, before entering talks with the Canadian miner on a revised framework for the project.
Niger has since intensified its overhaul of foreign mining agreements, including the military government’s nationalisation of SOMAIR in June 2025.
More recently, in May 2026, authorities cancelled a 58-year uranium concession linked to France at the strategic Arlit deposit.
The dispute has also drawn Russia into the sector, after Le Monde reported concern in France over a possible deal for Niger to sell about 1,000 tonnes of yellowcake to Rosatom for about $170 million, although Niger and Rosatom denied a confirmed agreement.
Consequently, Niger’s identified recoverable resources have also fallen, partly because of mining depletion and a lower estimate for Imouraren, while gains at Dasa and Takardeit only partly offset the decline.
Source: Africabusinessinsider