Africa urged to adopt governance model for critical minerals as high-level conference ends

The High-Level Conference on Governance, Critical Minerals, and Conflict in Africa has ended with a strong call for African governments to adopt a new governance framework that places transparency, democratic accountability, industrialisation and citizen participation at the centre of the continent’s critical minerals agenda. The three-day conference, held from July 27 to 29 at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra and convened by the Open Society Foundations (OSF), brought together senior government officials, representatives of the African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), parliamentarians, civil society organisations, traditional leaders, mining communities, researchers, development partners, philanthropic organisations and private sector actors from across the continent. Against the backdrop of rising global demand for critical minerals needed for the energy transition and advanced technologies, participants examined how Africa can ensure its vast mineral wealth contributes to inclusive development, democratic resilience, and sustainable peace rather than conflict and inequality.

Delivering the closing reflections, the Programme Manager for Transformative Peace in Africa at the Open Society Foundations, Tem Mbuh, said Africa’s future in the global critical minerals economy would depend not on the abundance of resources beneath its soil but on the quality of governance surrounding them. Using his native Cameroon as an example, Mr Mbuh cited figures from the country’s national mining company, SONAMINES, showing that while only 148 kilogrammes of gold were officially exported between 2021 and 2025, more than 44 tonnes of Cameroonian gold were recorded in Dubai over the same period, representing an estimated US$3.4 billion in lost value. He described the disparity as evidence of the enormous governance challenges confronting the continent’s extractive sector.

“For me, the conversations we have had over the last three days have not been abstract debates about governance, critical minerals, or conflict. They have been a mirror held up to realities we know too well across our continent,” he said. Mr Mbuh said the example underscored the need for African governments to fundamentally rethink how mineral resources are governed if the continent is to benefit from growing global demand.

“A strong consensus emerged from our deliberations, n…