The Director-General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, says the forthcoming Africa Raw Materials Summit (ARMS) 2026 will deliver tangible milestones that can transform the continent.

He said this during a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja ahead of the summit scheduled to hold from October  19 to 20, 2026, in Abuja.

Mr Ike-Muonso said the summit was designed to move beyond dialogue and secure actionable results that directly address Africa’s economic reality.

“We hold more than 40 per cent of the world’s mineral resources yet capture less than 15 per cent of their value.

“This summit is another trajectory. We are not gathering to discuss only problems; we are gathering to rub minds on how to move from exporter of raw wealth to master of our own industrial future,” he said.

Mr Ike-Muonso said at the end of the summit a clear vision of Africa would not only have been talked but foundation would have also be laid on how to achieve it.

He described ARMS 2026 as an inflection point where policy, capital, technology and politics would align to ensure that what was extracted from African soil was transformed on African soil.

“Our resources will build our industries. Our industries will employ our people and our prosperity will be our own. That is what this summit achieves,” he said.

He said the summit would be held under the theme “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

Mr Ike-Muonso said it was aimed at ending Africa’s decades-long pit-to-port economic model, where raw wealth was exported without value addition.

“The summit will also help Nigeria put in place structures that would ensure that our raw materials fuel our own industries, employ our own people, and secure our own future,” he said.

The Chairperson of ARMS 2026 and Director of Planning, Statistics and Policy Development at RMRDC, Rachael Kotso, said the event was designed to achieve tangible results.

Ms Kotso said, “We are moving toward a new era of resource-based industrialisation. We have structured this gathering to deliver results that are seen and felt.

“Every session, every partnership, and every agreement is aimed at turning our natural endowments into sustainable development.”

The summit targets over 1,800 delegates from the 54 African countries, including global partners. 

(NAN)