The Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) will host its second High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development on 22 September 2025 in Manhattan, New York, alongside the 80th United Nations General Assembly. The event, organised under the theme “Forging a Common African Voice, Advancing Global Partnerships”, reflects a growing recognition that Africa’s mineral endowments are central not only to the continent’s future but also to the global economy undergoing a profound energy transition.
Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and rare earth elements have emerged as essential for the manufacturing of electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure, and digital technologies. Global demand for these resources is expected to more than double by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency, with Africa already accounting for significant proportions of the world’s reserves. The continent holds around 70 per cent of global cobalt supplies, vast deposits of lithium across Zimbabwe, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and key manganese reserves in South Africa and Gabon. Yet Africa’s role in the value chain has historically been confined to extraction, with limited participation in processing, manufacturing and technology development.
The roundtable in New York, chaired by His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will provide a platform for African leaders, policymakers, multilateral institutions, and private sector partners to deliberate on how the continent can reposition itself from a supplier of raw commodities to an architect of industrialisation and innovation. Dr Oladele Henry Alake, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Chairman of the AMSG, and His Excellency Moses Micheal Engadu, Secretary-General of the organisation, will join President Tinubu in leading the proceedings.
The AMSG has emphasised that this gathering is not a symbolic exercise but part of a coordinated effort to harmonise mineral policies across African states, align investment priorities, and foster partnerships that balance the needs of domestic development with global sustainability goals. The roundtable follows the inaugural edition held in 2024, also on the margins of the UN General Assembly, where Vice President Kashim Shettima of Nigeria represented President Tinubu and underscored that Africa’s natural resources provide the means for the continent to achieve self-reliance rather than dependency on foreign aid. That event drew participation from ministers of mining and energy from Malawi, Sierra Leone, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Italy, and Liberia, setting a precedent for multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Speaking ahead of this year’s gathering, H.E. Moses Micheal Engadu described Africa’s critical minerals as both a catalyst for industrialisation and a foundation of global sustainable development. He noted that the roundtable would help African states move towards policy coherence, mobilise capital, and ensure that mineral wealth benefits ordinary citizens while underpinning responsible and transparent global partnerships. This framing reflects a broader continental aspiration: to secure economic sovereignty by ensuring that the energy transition is not another moment where Africa’s resources are extracted for external benefit without delivering structural transformation at home.
The event will convene senior representatives from AMSG member states, international financial and developmental institutions, and global industry leaders from sectors including mining, technology, logistics and supply chain traceability. Its partnership with Core International is seen as an important bridge between public ambition and private investment. Suleiman Zakari, Managing Partner at Core International, emphasised that the roundtable is designed to translate dialogue into tangible action, noting that earlier editions of the forum at AFNIS, FMF and UNGA had already delivered measurable outcomes in aligning investment and policy.
Beyond its immediate objectives, the AMSG roundtable sits within a wider geopolitical context. As industrialised nations accelerate the shift to green technologies, competition for critical minerals has intensified. This dynamic places Africa at the centre of global supply chains, but also raises questions about equitable partnerships, governance, and the protection of African interests. While external powers, from China to the European Union and the United States, have increased their engagement with African states on mineral access, African leaders are increasingly seeking platforms like the AMSG to articulate a common position and negotiate from a position of strength.
The AMSG, established in January 2024 as a continental intergovernmental body by African Ministers of Mining, has rapidly become the primary forum for coordinating strategies on critical minerals. Its mandate extends beyond resource governance to include investment alignment, industrial policy coordination, and international engagement. By providing an African-led mechanism, it reflects an ongoing effort to reclaim agency over the continent’s mineral wealth and to ensure that the global green transition is not achieved at the expense of Africa’s own developmental imperatives.
For Africa, critical minerals represent both opportunity and risk. On one hand, revenues from resource development could drive industrialisation, expand infrastructure, and create jobs across sectors. On the other, without strong regulatory frameworks and transparent governance, mineral wealth could perpetuate historical cycles of extraction without transformation. By situating its deliberations on the margins of the UN General Assembly, the AMSG underscores the importance of aligning African perspectives with broader multilateral debates on sustainable development, climate change, and equitable economic transformation.
The roundtable will therefore be more than an isolated policy forum; it will serve as a stage for Africa to assert its role in shaping the future of global supply chains. It offers a space to deliberate on partnerships that go beyond resource extraction, towards inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The coming together of African leaders in New York is expected to send a signal that the continent is not a passive participant in the global critical minerals economy but an active agent, seeking to shape outcomes in ways that balance global needs with local priorities.
