By Amah Alphonsus Amaonye
Lagos / Riyadh — Africa’s solid minerals sector received a fresh boost as Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr. Dele Alake, was re-elected Chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategic Group (AMSG), reinforcing the continent’s push for stronger coordination, value addition, and global competitiveness in mining and critical minerals.
The re-election, confirmed at the 2026 Annual General Meeting of AMSG held on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is widely viewed within the industry as a strong endorsement of Alake’s reform-driven leadership and Africa-focused advocacy. Industry stakeholders say the development reflects growing confidence in Africa’s ability to speak with one voice in shaping its minerals future.
AMSG, which brings together ministers responsible for mining and solid minerals across Africa, plays a strategic role in aligning policies, safeguarding mineral resources, and ensuring African countries capture greater value from the global demand for energy transition and critical minerals. Under Alake’s leadership since his first election in 2024, the group has intensified collaboration on transparency, sustainability, and shared bargaining power in global mineral markets.
From a sectoral performance perspective, analysts note that Nigeria’s rising profile within AMSG mirrors the ongoing reforms in its domestic mining industry. These reforms—focused on regulation, investment attraction, job creation, and downstream processing—are increasingly positioning solid minerals as a meaningful contributor to national GDP and export diversification.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his congratulatory message, described Alake’s re-election as a vote of confidence in his strategic vision, noting that the AMSG has emerged as a credible continental platform advancing Africa’s interests across the minerals value chain. He highlighted the alignment between AMSG’s objectives and Nigeria’s broader industrial and economic reform agenda, particularly the drive to translate mineral wealth into tangible socio-economic outcomes.
Industry observers say Alake’s continued leadership offers Africa an opportunity to consolidate recent gains, deepen institutional frameworks, and strengthen its role in global supply chains—especially as competition intensifies for lithium, gold, rare earths, and other strategic minerals.
With renewed backing from his peers across the continent, expectations are high that the AMSG under Alake will accelerate policy coherence, attract sustainable investment, and help reposition Africa not just as a source of raw materials, but as a competitive player in global mineral processing and value addition.
