President Bola Tinubu will chair a high-level African summit on critical minerals in New York next month as the continent seeks to increase local processing and retain more economic value from its mineral resources.
The Third High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa will be held on September 21, 2026, in Manhattan on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
The meeting is being convened by the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), with Tinubu attending as Chairman of the group’s General Assembly.
The summit will bring together African leaders, government officials, investors, development finance institutions and representatives of mining, technology and logistics companies.
The meeting is themed “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition” and is expected to focus on reducing Africa’s dependence on the export of unprocessed or minimally processed minerals.
Africa possesses significant deposits of minerals including lithium, cobalt, copper, graphite, manganese and rare earth elements, many of which are increasingly important to electric vehicles, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and defence technologies.
However, much of the continent’s mineral wealth is exported as raw materials, with a larger share of the value generated through refining, manufacturing and finished products captured outside Africa.
The AMSG said the New York meeting would seek to address this imbalance by promoting mineral processing, manufacturing, investment and stronger integration of African mineral value chains.
Discussions are also expected to focus on attracting capital, improving supply-chain security and strengthening African countries’ collective bargaining position in the global minerals market.
The summit will build on the Mutual Assured Development framework launched at the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit held in Abuja earlier in 2026.
African leaders and policymakers are expected to consider a proposed Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration, which would provide a framework for cooperation on critical minerals.
The proposed framework would cover policy coordination, investment mobilisation, local value addition and supply-chain security.
The AMSG is also proposing a CIEAD Finance Window to mobilise funding for mineral processing, infrastructure and technology needed to develop competitive value chains within Africa.
The group said the New York meeting would mark a shift from policy discussions towards concrete investment and implementation.
The event will be led by AMSG officials, including Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake, who chairs the group’s Ministerial Steering Committee, and its Secretary-General, Moses Michael Engadu.
Development finance institutions, the African Finance Corporation, multilateral organisations and private-sector players are also expected to participate.
The AMSG was established in January 2024 by African governments to coordinate policies, investments and partnerships around critical minerals and strengthen the continent’s position in the global minerals economy.
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