By Segun Tomori
The 3rd edition of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS) hosted by Nigeria has come and gone, but its potential for sustainable development of the continent’s natural resources can not be overemphasised. Being the first hosted by Nigeria after the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake emerged as chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), this year’s AFNIS achieved far-reaching milestones catalysed by the AMSG-led advocacy.
AFNIS is conceptualised to be a platform for African countries to articulate ideas, cross-fertilise opinions, and reach logically deductive conclusions on how to harness the vast mineral and natural resources for development of the continent’s economy. “The 2024 summit is another platform to further consolidate ideas and put them into motion towards achieving our overall stated objectives. “I hope that at the end of our deliberations, Africans will know and recognise our seriousness through the buy-in of ministers here present. Consequently, we want the world to know that Africa can no longer be exploited at will to the detriment of development of the continent”, Dr. Alake asserted while giving the opening remarks at the summit’s ministerial roundtable.
The AMSG, a forum of African Ministers of Solid Minerals/Mineral Resource, galvanised this year’s AFNIS, making value addition the rallying point of the conference. It will be recalled that Dr. Alake as chairman of AMSG has championed value addition, which entails the processing of minerals before exports, as the fulcrum of the forum’s agenda.
Buttressing this stance at the ministerial roundtable, Dr. Alake emphasised that increased revenue derivable from value-added products from mineral resources will be deployed to providing infrastructure and social services for citizens. “For instance, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the largest deposit of cobalt and some critical metals in the world, but how much has Congo recovered in terms of returns, ditto for Nigeria? We must consciously change this through fora like this, through concerted efforts and tenacity of purpose that will ensure value addition is entrenched in Africa”, he added.
The ministerial parley convened under the theme “Sustainable Development for Africa’s Natural Resources” also featured submissions by AMSG Secretary-General, Moses Engadu, a cross-section of ministers and private sector players. The transition to cleaner energy sources in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Access to finance; Generation of big data through exploration; Intra-Africa exchange of trade and knowledge dominated deliberations at the roundtable.
AFNIS 2024 has already started yielding fruits with the launch of the “Africans for Africa “on the heels of the conference. The initiative, a brainchild of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), is designed to harness economic capital within the African continent to drive its structural development. A landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed with a consortium of partners, including Motimose Metals Ltd (MML) and Core International (CL).
While AMSG will secure buy-in from member nations, provide necessary governmental support, MML will handle technical aspects of mining development, including geological reviews, drilling alongside ensuring projects provide value to shareholders. On its part, Core International will leverage its platform I-MINE to host the projects that will allow shareholders to purchase shares and track investments. They will also develop a comprehensive marketing strategy to attract partners and investors.
Plans are also afoot to float an Africa Minerals Development Fund (AMDF) patterned after Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF). “This fund inspired by Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), will be championed by Nigeria and structured to assist local miners access required funds across the continent”, said Engadu, AMSG Secretary-General.
Highlights of the summit include the resolve to strengthen intra-Africa trade based on member-countries’ area of comparative advantage, a consensus forged prohibiting approval of mining license applications without requisite plans for value addition. Also, plans for innovative funding mechanisms for exploration to attract big players formed part of resolutions reached at the ministerial roundtable.
With the rash of forward-looking initiatives conceived at AFNIS 2024, it is apparent that a new dawn beckons for sustainable development of Africa’s natural resources. Dr. Alake as chairperson of Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) is leading this continental renaissance with Nigeria playing a pivotal role. Africa is set to dominate the solid minerals sector, not only as a destination for extraction of raw materials but as a major processing hub, with the new-found unity of purpose bolstered by Nigeria-led AMSG.
Segun Tomori _is the Special Assistant on Media to the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development.
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