The fifth edition of the African Natural Resources and Energy Summit (AFNIS) is targeting new partnerships, investment opportunities, and practical pathways for execution for the sustainable development of Africa.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a news conference ahead of the summit scheduled to hold from June 23 to June 25.

Mr Alake, represented by the Managing Director of the Nigeria Solid Minerals Development Company, Martins Imonitie, said the 2026 AFNIS would prioritise implementation and building on the resolutions reached at previous editions of the conference.

“This year, the programme has been designed to facilitate direct engagement between governments, investors, financiers, project developers, and technical experts.

“Dedicated sovereign meeting rooms, investor engagement sessions, ministerial dialogues, CEO roundtables, project financing discussions, responsible sourcing roundtables, and project de-risking engagements have all been incorporated into the summit architecture.

“The objective is such that participants should leave Abuja with new partnerships, new investment opportunities, and practical pathways for execution,” he said.

He said the 2026 summit aims to generate meaningful discussions around sovereign participation in strategic projects, regional industrial corridors, critical mineral development, infrastructure financing, responsible sourcing, and energy integration.

He added that critical conversations at the conference would also focus on project de-risking and innovative financing mechanisms that could unlock Africa’s enormous resource potential.

The outcomes of these discussions, he said, would have the potential to shape policy and investment decisions across the continent for years to come.

According to him, the 2026 AFNIS comes at a crucial moment in Africa’s history, where the demand for critical minerals is accelerating and nations are repositioning themselves to secure supply chains.

“Global capital is seeking stable and bankable destinations. New technologies are transforming industries at unprecedented speed, while the global energy transition is creating enormous opportunities for resource-rich countries,” he said.

Mr Alake said AFNIS 2026 hinges on the idea that Africa must move beyond merely being a source of raw materials to becoming a centre for value creation, industrialisation, and shared prosperity.

Mr Alake said AFNIS 2026 was designed to advance the vision that Africa should move beyond raw material exports to embrace value creation, industrialisation, and shared prosperity.

He emphasised that Africa’s resources must become catalysts for its economic transformation, job creation, technological advancement, infrastructure development, and long-term wealth creation for sustainable development.

“It is for this reason that the theme ‘One Africa, One Resource Vision’ was adopted to reflect the growing recognition

“That the challenges and opportunities confronting Africa’s resource sector can no longer be addressed through isolated national approaches.

“Whether we are discussing critical minerals, energy infrastructure, regional value chains, industrial corridors, responsible sourcing, project financing, or technology transfer, the future lies in greater collaboration among African nations,” he said.

He said participants expected at this year’s event include government representatives and ministers responsible for mining, petroleum, energy, and industrial development from several African countries including the DRC, Kenya, Uganda, and Mauritania, among others.

According to him, these countries represent some of Africa’s most important mining and energy jurisdictions, and their participation demonstrates a growing consensus that Africa’s resource future must be shaped through dialogue, coordination, and collective action.

He added that beyond government participation, the summit would bring together development finance institutions, investors, mining and energy companies, technology providers, project developers, and policymakers from across Africa and beyond.

Earlier in his remarks, Archibald Troko, Director, Strategy and Platform Development at Core International, organisers of the summit, said the event had generated deals worth 600 million dollars in the past four years.

He said the summit had also contributed to more aligned trade agreements, policy harmonisation, and the setting of new standards in natural resources development.

Mr Troko said the 2026 summit aims to build continental resource sovereignty by uniting African nations under a shared goal of socio-economic prosperity through the sustainable development of their natural resources.

According to him, one of the key focuses of the summit is the development of a framework covering resource sovereignty, local value addition, industrialisation, regional integration, and strategic mineral cooperation.

(NAN)