To encourage indigenous investments in the African mineral sector, the Federal Government is set to launch the “Africans for Africa” Fund.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, said the fund is designed to mobilise African capital.
He spoke with reporters ahead of the fourth Africa Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS) billed for July 15 to 17, with the theme: “Harnessing Local Content for Sustainable Development” to be held at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja.
Represented by the Director General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office (MCO), Simon Obadiah Nkom, the minister said: “One of the major highlights of this year’s summit will be the formal launch of the ‘Africans for Africa’ Fund; a bold initiative designed to mobilise African capital for African priorities.
“This isn’t a slogan. It’s a shift in mindset. We are saying clearly: the time has come for Africans to invest in Africa, to back our industries, our innovations, and our infrastructure with the resources we already have.
“For Nigeria, this summit gives us an opportunity to showcase progress under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“We will present updates on our reforms in the solid minerals sector—local processing efforts, a renewed commitment to community development agreements, the rollout of our mineral data platform (NMRDSS), and new steps we are taking to attract responsible investment and ensure that mining benefits all stakeholders,” he said.
The minister believes the summit has had a great impact since its inception in 2022.
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He added: “AFNIS is Africa’s flagship platform for cross-sector dialogue, investment matchmaking, and long-term strategic partnerships across the natural resource and energy value chain.
“Our theme this year encourages a serious rethink about how Africa can shift away from exporting raw materials and instead build factories, refine minerals, generate power locally, and create jobs at home.
“This summit is about building value where the resources come from. 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, fertilizers, 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.”