Africa urged to turn mineral wealth into industrialisation

Africa must move beyond exporting raw minerals and use its mineral wealth to drive industrialisation, create jobs and improve living conditions, speakers at the 2026 Anglophone Africa Extractive Industries Knowledge Hub Summer School have said.

The summer school, organised by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) under the Anglophone Africa Extractive Industries Knowledge Hub, brings together civil society groups, policymakers and media practitioners from 10 African countries.

Opening the programme in Accra yesterday, ACEP Executive Director, Mr Benjamin Boakye, said Africa had repeatedly missed opportunities to turn its natural resources into broad development.

He said oil had created huge expectations across the continent, but weak institutions, revenue losses and poor governance had often prevented citizens from benefiting fully.

He said similar concerns were emerging in the mining sector, where environmental damage, social disruption and weak governance remained major issues.

Mr Boakye said the growing global demand for critical minerals presented Africa with another opportunity, but warned that the continent could repeat the mistakes of the past.

He said African countries must seek ways to process minerals locally, develop industries and use resource revenues to invest in education, healthcare, infrastructure and other productive sectors.

He also called for stronger institutions, accountability and protection of communities affected by mining.

Africa Director of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Ms Nafi Quarshie, said the energy transition must not become another form of exploitation of Africa.

She said the continent had supplied resources for industrialisation in other parts of the world for generations, while much of the value was created outside Africa.

Ms Quarshie said the key question was whether Africa’s critical minerals would finally lead to transformational development.

She said Africa needed to become a rule maker rather than a rule taker in the global energy transition, adding that green transition was not automatically a just transition.

She called for stronger regional cooperation among African countries to improve bargaining power and prevent countries from competing against each other by offering away value.

Head of Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland, Ms Magdalena Wüst, said the summer school had become more than a training programme.

She said it was also creating connections among young African professionals and helping to build a new generation of leaders in natural resource governance.

She said Switzerland remained committed to supporting good governance, transparency and accountable management of natural resources in Ghana and Africa.

The speakers urged participants to use the knowledge gained from the programme to influence policy, strengthen accountability and help ensure that Africa’s natural resources deliver lasting benefits.

The summer school is expected to expose participants to issues including critical minerals, value addition, transition finance, methane, environmental and social impacts, governance and political economy.