— As AMSG pushes for resource wealth, mineral value addition
By Gabriel Ewepu
ABUJA: The Africa Minerals Strategy Group, AMSG, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu will chair its third High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa in Manhattan, New York, United States, on September 21, 2026.
The roundtable, themed “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition,” is aimed at promoting resource wealth and mineral value addition in Africa.
The gathering underscores Africa’s determination to place critical minerals at the centre of the continent’s industrial, economic and geopolitical agenda.
According to AMSG, the high-level meeting will bring together African heads of state and government representatives, ministers, global investors, development finance institutions, multilateral organisations and executives from the mining, technology, processing, logistics and mineral traceability industries.
The group said the roundtable comes at a pivotal moment in the global race for critical minerals, as lithium, copper, cobalt, graphite, manganese, rare earth elements and other strategic resources become increasingly important to technologies, energy systems, defence industries and manufacturing supply chains shaping the global economy.
Africa possesses some of the world’s most significant reserves of many of these minerals. However, for decades, much of the continent’s mineral wealth has left African shores with limited processing and value addition taking place locally.
Rather than serving as another forum for declarations, AMSG said the roundtable would focus on bankable opportunities, policy alignment, investment structures and mechanisms capable of converting Africa’s mineral endowment into measurable economic value.
The organisation said the September gathering represents an important test of Africa’s ability to act collectively at a time when critical minerals are becoming increasingly central to global economic and national security strategies.
AMSG said Africa must move from being a passive participant in global mineral supply chains to becoming an active architect of the emerging mineral economy.
The New York gathering will feature ministerial representatives from AMSG member states, multilateral institutions, development finance institutions, including the Africa Finance Corporation, as well as invited executives from major global mining, technology, traceability and logistics companies.
Their participation is expected to create a convergence between African policymakers overseeing mineral resources, institutions capable of financing large-scale development and private-sector players seeking secure and sustainable critical-mineral supply chains.
The Third AMSG High-Level Roundtable is strategically partnered and supported by Core International.
Established in January 2024 by African governments as a continental intergovernmental organisation and specialised agency for critical minerals development, AMSG serves as a platform for coordinating critical-minerals policy, investment alignment, minerals security and Africa’s engagement with global partners.
AMSG said the traditional extract-and-export model must change, adding that the New York roundtable would focus on how African countries could build integrated mineral value chains, attract transformative capital, strengthen continental cooperation and secure a greater share of the economic value generated from the continent’s mineral resources.
The roundtable represents a major step in the implementation of the Mutual Assured Development, MADE, Framework, launched at the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit, AFNIS 2026, in Abuja.
Building on the framework, the New York gathering will mark what AMSG described as a transition from strategic dialogue to structural execution, with the official unveiling of the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration, CIEAD.
The declaration is expected to provide a new continental architecture for cooperation around critical minerals, including policy coordination, investment mobilisation, mineral value addition, supply-chain security and mechanisms for strengthening Africa’s negotiating position in the global minerals economy.
According to the group, a key component will be the proposed CIEAD Finance Window, designed to support innovative financing structures capable of mobilising capital for mineral processing, infrastructure, technology and other critical components of Africa’s emerging mineral value chains.
The roundtable will be convened by the leadership of AMSG, with the participation of the Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Chairperson of the AMSG Ministerial Steering Committee, Mr Dele Alake, and the Secretary-General of AMSG, Mr Moses Micheal Engadu.
The stakes for Africa, AMSG said, extend well beyond mining.
The global transition to electric mobility, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure and modern defence systems is intensifying competition for secure supplies of critical minerals.
The development has placed Africa at the centre of a rapidly changing global economic and geopolitical landscape.
AMSG said the continent now has an opportunity to leverage its mineral endowment to drive manufacturing, technology transfer, infrastructure development, regional trade and job creation rather than remain primarily a source of raw materials for industries elsewhere.
“The Roundtable will therefore examine practical pathways for African countries to develop integrated and competitive mineral value chains, strengthen intra-African cooperation and attract long-term investment into processing, refining, manufacturing and related infrastructure,” the group added.
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