From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
The federal government has expressed readiness to launch an initiative designed to mobilise African capital for African priorities.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake, stated this while briefing newsmen ahead of the 4th African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS), holding at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Dr. Alake, represented by the Director General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office, Simon Obadiah Nkom, explained that the “Africans for Africa” Fund isn’t a slogan but a shift in mindset, indicating that the time has come for Africans to invest in Africa to back the continent’s industries, innovations, and infrastructure with resources already generated.
The Minister emphasised that this year’s theme encourages a serious rethink about how Africa can shift away from exporting raw materials and instead build factories, refine minerals, generate power locally, create jobs at home, and build value where the resources originate.
According to him, the event will feature a Strategic Partnership Summit, where deals will be made and policies unveiled, and a Technical and Investment Forum that brings experts and innovators together on key topics such as ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), critical minerals, and agriculture-mining linkages.
“Some of the key areas we’ll be focusing on include local industrialisation—how to turn our abundant raw materials into processed products: batteries, solar components, fertilisers, and metals; energy transition—how to take advantage of our renewables and gas to create energy solutions that actually work for African communities, solutions that are clean, reliable, and affordable.
“We’ll explore how mining and agriculture, petrochemicals, and energy can be coordinated in a way that makes sense for long-term growth,” he said.
According to Dr. Alake, the time has come for Africans to invest in Africa, noting that the summit will afford Nigeria the opportunity to showcase progress under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“We’ll present updates on our reforms in the solid minerals sector, local processing efforts, renewed commitment to community development agreements, the rollout of our mineral data platform (NMRDSS), and new steps we’re taking to attract responsible investment and ensure that mining benefits all stakeholders.”