The Africa Minerals Strategy Group is preparing to take the continent’s campaign for greater mineral processing and local value addition to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The group will hold its third high level roundtable on critical minerals development on September 21, 2026.
The meeting comes as several African countries introduce or strengthen restrictions on exports of unprocessed and minimally processed minerals.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Tanzania have all taken steps intended to retain more economic value from mineral resources.
Nigeria has also argued that the continent should move away from exporting minerals directly from mines without significant local processing.
AMSG said national export restrictions alone would not deliver the scale of industrial transformation Africa required.
It called for coordinated processing hubs, transport and energy corridors, harmonised policy, traceable supply chains and financing mechanisms capable of supporting mineral based infrastructure.
The New York meeting is expected to bring together African leaders, ministers, investors, development finance institutions, multilateral organisations and mining industry executives.
President Bola Tinubu is expected to chair the roundtable in his capacity as chair of the AMSG General Assembly.
The meeting is expected to culminate in the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration.
The proposed declaration is intended to create a framework for cooperation on mineral value chains, infrastructure, investment mobilisation and Africa’s position in global critical mineral markets.
A financing window is also being proposed to mobilise capital for processing facilities, technology and infrastructure.
Solid Minerals Development Minister Dele Alake said Africa needed to decide whether it would continue exporting raw resources and importing finished value or build the industrial capacity to process more minerals locally.
AMSG said critical minerals had become increasingly important to energy transition technologies, manufacturing and national security.
The organisation wants Africa to use that strategic importance to negotiate a stronger role in global supply chains and create more jobs and industrial value within the continent.
