The minister of solid minerals development, Dele Alake, has been re-elected as chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), a platform comprising African ministers overseeing minerals and mining.
Alake, who emerged as the pioneer chairman in 2024 on the sidelines of the future minerals forum (FMF), secured a second term at the 2026 annual general meeting (AGM) of the AMSG held alongside the FMF in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Segun Tomori, special assistant on media to the minister, disclosed that members at the AGM endorsed the creation of new leadership positions aimed at strengthening the group’s institutional structure.
The additional offices include vice-chairman, deputy secretary-general and financial secretary, with the roles to be fairly allocated across Africa’s sub-regions to ensure inclusiveness and regional balance.
According to the statement, while the positions of chairman and vice-chairman are elective and restricted to serving ministers, the other offices will be filled through appointments from member states to which they are zoned.
“Under the new leadership structure, Nigeria’s Dr. Dele Alake remains Chairman of the 24-member forum, representing West Africa,” the statement said.
“The Minister of Mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Hon. Louis Watum Kabamba, was elected Vice-Chairman for Central Africa.
“The Secretary-General position remains with Uganda (East Africa), Mauritania was appointed Deputy Secretary-General for North Africa, while South Africa was allocated the role of Financial Secretary.
“The AGM also approved a two-year tenure for the newly elected executive committee and agreed that zoned positions belong to member countries, such that any replacement of a serving minister automatically transfers the role to the successor.”
In his acceptance remarks, Alake expressed gratitude to his colleagues for the renewed trust and called for deeper collaboration among African nations to fully harness the continent’s economic potential through solid minerals development.
He urged member states to agree on minimum financial contributions and to fine-tune the group’s budgeting framework to enhance operational efficiency.
“Once member states contribute, accountability will naturally follow. This will enhance transparency and strengthen the credibility of the AMSG before the global community,” he said.
‘MINERAL PRODUCTION ALONE CAN’T DELIVER SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION’
Earlier, during a leadership roundtable titled ‘Africa: Unlocking Infrastructure Funding for Copper-Belt Production’, Alake said mineral production alone cannot guarantee sustainable economic transformation without dependable infrastructure, harmonised policies and intentional value-addition strategies.
He pointed to the Lobito corridor as a model of what is achievable when rail, ports, energy systems and policy coordination work in synergy.
Alake noted that similar prospects exist across Africa, including the Lagos–Abidjan corridor linking Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire; the Walvis Bay corridor in Southern Africa; and the Dar es Salaam and Central corridors connecting East and Central Africa.
“The real question is not whether Africa has corridors, but whether these corridors are being financed, governed and structured to support industrial growth, regional integration and long-term stability,” he said.
“What matters is how financing is designed to reduce risk, attract private capital and sustain commercial viability while advancing national and regional development objectives.”
He added that mobilising capital at scale would require tackling key challenges such as the absence of bankable and enforceable offtake agreements, fragmented and unpredictable cross-border regulations, and weak alignment of rail, port, power and industrial planning.
According to him, the overarching vision of the AMSG is to ensure that Africa’s mineral infrastructure is strategically planned, responsibly financed and efficiently managed within a fast-changing global landscape.
He stressed that the aim is not to deter investment, but to align it with long-term stability, transparency and shared prosperity.
The statement added that the AGM also agreed to hold quarterly ministerial meetings and approved the creation of standing committees covering legal and institutional affairs and human resources; sustainability and responsible mining; as well as finance, budget and resource mobilisation.