President Tinubu Drives New Strategy to Maximize Africa’s Mineral Wealth

President Bola Tinubu is set to lead a renewed continental drive to ensure Africa derives greater economic value from its vast mineral resources instead of continuing to export them largely in raw form.

Tinubu, who chairs the General Assembly of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, will preside over the group’s Third High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa on September 21, 2026, in Manhattan, New York.

The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and is expected to attract African leaders and government officials, ministers, international investors, development finance institutions, multilateral organisations and executives from the mining, technology and logistics sectors.

Themed “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition,” the summit comes as global powers intensify efforts to secure supplies of minerals critical to electric vehicles, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure and defence technologies.

According to the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, the gathering is intended to place critical minerals at the heart of Africa’s industrial, economic and geopolitical agenda.

Africa possesses significant deposits of minerals including lithium, copper, cobalt, graphite, manganese and rare earth elements. Yet, much of the continent’s mineral wealth has historically been exported with little processing, allowing other countries to capture a larger share of the value generated through refining, manufacturing and finished products.

The New York summit is expected to advance efforts to reverse that trend by encouraging African countries to develop integrated mineral value chains on the continent.

The AMSG said the discussions would focus on moving beyond the traditional extract-and-export model, attracting transformative investment, strengthening cooperation among African countries and increasing the continent’s share of the wealth generated from its natural resources.

The meeting will also serve as the next stage of the Mutual Assured Development framework launched earlier this year at the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit in Abuja.

As part of the new phase, African leaders and policymakers are expected to unveil the proposed Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration (CIEAD).

The proposed framework will focus on coordinating policies, mobilising investment, expanding local value addition, strengthening mineral supply chains and improving Africa’s bargaining position in the international minerals market.

A key element will be the proposed CIEAD Finance Window, which is designed to attract funding for mineral processing, infrastructure, technology and other investments needed to establish competitive value chains within Africa.

The AMSG said the initiative was intended to move the continent beyond declarations and policy discussions towards concrete investment and implementation.

“Building on the Mutual Assured Development Framework, the New York gathering will mark a transition from strategic dialogue to structural execution,” the group said.

The summit will be convened by AMSG leadership, including the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, who chairs the organisation’s Ministerial Steering Committee, and its Secretary-General, Moses Michael Engadu.

The Africa Finance Corporation, development finance institutions, multilateral organisations and private-sector companies involved in mining, technology, mineral traceability and logistics are also expected to participate.

Their participation is expected to help identify commercially viable projects in mineral processing, refining, infrastructure and manufacturing that could attract investment and accelerate industrial development across the continent.

The initiative also complements Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to reform its solid minerals sector, particularly its emphasis on local processing, value addition and reducing the export of unprocessed minerals.

However, the AMSG said the broader objective went beyond Nigeria, stressing that Africa must play a more active role in shaping the emerging global critical-minerals economy.

“As critical minerals become increasingly central to global economic and national security strategies, Africa must move from being a passive participant in global mineral supply chains to becoming an active architect of the emerging mineral economy,” the organisation said.

The group said Africa’s mineral endowment could serve as a catalyst for industrialisation, technology transfer, infrastructure development, intra-African trade and job creation if countries were able to retain a greater share of the value generated from their resources.

Established in January 2024 by African governments, the Africa Minerals Strategy Group is an intergovernmental platform focused on coordinating critical-minerals policies, aligning investments, strengthening minerals security and improving Africa’s engagement with international partners.

Its broader objective is to strengthen African countries’ control over their mineral resources and ensure that the continent captures more of the economic value associated with the minerals expected to shape the global economy in the coming decades.