Independent advisory for responsible mineral economies
Ad Maiora works with actors across the mining ecosystem and its value chains to attract responsible investment into Africa's mineral endowments, and to keep more of the value they generate on the continent.
Where minerals, capital and policy meet
Africa holds the critical minerals the world's energy transition depends on. Whether that endowment attracts investment and delivers jobs, revenue and lasting development at home is decided now, by governments setting policy, financial institutions pricing risk, miners building operations, and offtakers choosing where and how to source.
Ad Maiora advises these decision-makers across the mining lifecycle and across the full spectrum of production, from artisanal and small-scale to industrial. We help governments, financial institutions, mining companies and offtakers develop ASM-positive approaches: due diligence that holds up on the ground, credible traceability, and the financial inclusion that makes responsible production bankable.
And we work on where the value goes: policies and investment cases for value capture and regional beneficiation, so that more of what Africa mines is processed, refined and traded on the continent.
Scalable solutions are rarely built alone. We enable and catalyse collaboration, because multi-stakeholder engagement is how isolated pilots become sector-wide change.
Built on a decade in the field
Ad Maiora was founded by David Sturmes, co-founder of The Impact Facility and one of the people who built the Fair Cobalt Alliance from inside: recruiting its members, raising its funding and shaping its strategy. For a decade he has worked on responsible mineral supply chains in more than ten countries across the continent, with particular depth in East Africa and the copper-cobalt belt of the DR Congo, and at every level from mine sites to the boardrooms and ministries where sourcing and investment decisions are made.
His project experience spans equipment finance and mine-site investment in East African gold mining, child-labour remediation and mine improvement in the DRC's copper-cobalt belt, value chain assessments, and the blended-finance structures that bring downstream buyers into funding responsible production. He serves on the advisory boards of Investing in African Mining Indaba and Mining 2030.
How we work
Ad Maiora takes on a small number of engagements at a time and holds no ties to any standard, scheme or commercial interest.
Advice is built from field-level evidence and tested against commercial and political reality. What we recommend has to work for the people who will implement it.
We are based in Nairobi, close to the mine sites, ministries and regional institutions this work depends on.
Start a conversation
Whether you are scoping a mandate or testing an idea, the fastest way to reach us is directly:
david.sturmes@admaiora.africa