President Bola Tinubu will chair the Third High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, scheduled for September 21, 2026, in Manhattan on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, according to reports detailed by Tvcnews. Convened by the Africa Minerals Strategy Group under the theme From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition,
the summit addresses growing global demand for critical minerals—such as lithium, copper, cobalt, graphite, manganese, and rare earth elements—which are essential for electric vehicles, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and defense technologies.
Tinubu to Lead New York Critical Minerals Summit
Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Chairperson of the AMSG Ministerial Steering Committee, Dr. Dele Alake, emphasized that Africa must transition away from historical patterns of exporting raw materials while importing finished goods. Africa’s critical minerals are no longer simply a geological opportunity; they are a strategic economic opportunity,
Alake stated, as reported by Thenationonlineng. The roundtable aims to bring together African leaders, government officials, ministers, investors, development finance institutions including the Africa Finance Corporation, multilateral organizations, and executives from the mining, technology, and logistics sectors.
Policy Shifts and Continental Integration Framework
The high-level meeting in New York arrives amid a wave of stricter national measures across the continent designed to curb the export of unprocessed resources. Several nations have recently enacted export limitations to retain economic value domestically:
- Democratic Republic of Congo: Suspended exports of copper and cobalt concentrates.
- Zimbabwe: Halted exports of raw minerals and lithium concentrates.
- Namibia and Tanzania: Placed restrictions on unrefined metallic and critical minerals.
While acknowledging these domestic policy moves, Alake cautioned that fragmented national export bans alone are insufficient for long-term economic transformation. Instead, the upcoming New York roundtable will mark the next phase of the Mutual Assured Development framework—which was launched earlier in the year at the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit in Abuja—by introducing the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration. According to Thenationonlineng, the newly proposed declaration will focus on policy coordination, investment mobilization, local value addition, supply-chain security, and strengthening Africa’s negotiating position, supported by a dedicated finance window to mobilize capital for refining infrastructure and processing technology.
Domestic Processing and Industrialization Momentum
Ahead of the international summit, African governments are working to demonstrate progress in domestic mineral processing capacity. In July 2026, President Tinubu commissioned a $250 million lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State built by Diamond New Energy in partnership with the Nasarawa State Government, featuring a processing capacity of 6,000 metric tonnes per day, as reported by Punchng. Government officials have presented developments of this scale as part of an effort to position nations like Nigeria as prominent minerals-processing hubs rather than mere raw exporters.
As the Africa Minerals Strategy Group—established in January 2024—prepares for the Manhattan roundtable alongside leadership figures including AMSG Secretary-General Moses Michael Engadu, participating stakeholders emphasize that physical location change must align with genuine industrial development. Analysts and policymakers note that avoiding past resource failures requires robust domestic governance, rigorous economic feasibility studies, and coordinated regional cooperation so that the economic value generated by the global green and high-tech transition remains firmly within Africa.
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