President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is set to chair a high-level summit on Africa’s critical minerals in New York next month as the continent seeks to gain greater control over its vast mineral resources.
The Third High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa is scheduled for September 21, 2026, in Manhattan, on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. Tinubu will chair the meeting in his capacity as Chairman of the General Assembly of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG).
The summit, organised by the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, will bring together African government representatives, ministers, international investors, development finance institutions, multilateral organisations and executives from the mining, technology and logistics industries.
The meeting is themed “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition.” Its central objective is to encourage African countries to move away from exporting minerals mainly as raw materials and instead develop industries that process those resources within the continent.
Africa possesses significant deposits of minerals such as lithium, copper, cobalt, graphite, manganese and rare earth elements. These resources are becoming increasingly important as global demand grows for electric vehicles, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure.
However, African countries have historically exported much of their mineral wealth in raw or minimally processed forms. This has meant that companies and countries outside Africa often capture a larger portion of the value through refining, manufacturing and the production of finished goods.
The AMSG wants to change this pattern by promoting investment in processing plants, infrastructure, technology and interconnected mineral supply chains across Africa.
The New York summit is also expected to introduce a proposed Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration, which would provide a framework for cooperation on critical minerals.
The proposed framework will focus on areas including policy coordination, investment mobilisation, local value addition and supply-chain security. It is also intended to strengthen Africa’s negotiating position in the international minerals market.
Another proposal is the CIEAD Finance Window, which would help mobilise funding for mineral processing, infrastructure and technology projects needed to develop competitive mineral industries within Africa.
The summit follows earlier efforts by the AMSG to encourage African countries to speak with a stronger collective voice in negotiations involving the continent’s natural resources. In June, Tinubu called for greater African control over critical minerals and warned against allowing the continent to remain primarily a supplier of raw materials to the rest of the world.
The upcoming meeting therefore represents an important opportunity for African leaders to discuss how the continent can turn its mineral wealth into jobs, industrial development, investment and stronger economies.
With global competition for critical minerals intensifying, African governments are increasingly looking for ways to ensure that the continent benefits more from the resources it possesses.
Tinubu’s role in chairing the New York summit is expected to place Nigeria at the centre of those discussions as African leaders seek a stronger and more coordinated approach to the continent’s mineral future.
