At the 2026 Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Chief Executive Officer of the World Energy Council Nigeria, Mr. Bala Wunti, warned that Africa must not repeat the costly economic model of exporting crude oil and importing refined petroleum products when it comes to lithium, cobalt and rare‑earth elements.
Wunti, who has more than three decades of experience in developing and financing large‑scale energy systems and formerly served as Chief Upstream Investment Officer at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, urged African governments to shift from being a source of raw minerals to becoming a competitive processing and manufacturing partner in the emerging global critical‑minerals economy.
The panel, titled “Rare Currency: Critical Minerals in a Shifting Global Economy,” ran from 20 to 23 September at the Sheraton New York Times Square alongside the United Nations General Assembly. Wunti spoke with Alix Steel, Principal at DrivePath Advisors; Steven Fox, founder and Executive Chairman of Veracity Worldwide; and Scott Monteith, President and CEO of Avalon Advanced Materials.
Wunti highlighted the United States’ increasing dependence on imported critical minerals, China’s dominance of global processing capacity, and the implications for defence, electricity, grid transmission, technology and industrial competitiveness. He said, “The urgency, need and speed of action are essential. Closing the supply gap has become a compelling national priority for the United States.”
“For the past 50 years, we priced energy in barrels. For the next 50 years, we will price it in kilograms, including kilograms of lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements,” Wunti said. “Whether those kilograms are controlled by allies or adversaries will help define the next global industrial order.”
He cautioned that exporting critical minerals in their raw form would amount to colonial economics. “Exporting crude oil and importing refined petroleum products created poverty, not prosperity. That model must not be repeated with lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements,” Wunti said. He added that a temporary concentrate export arrangement may be commercially necessary, but permanent raw‑material exports would undermine Africa’s industrial potential.
Wunti outlined six requirements for attracting capital into the sector: reliable geological data, clearly defined projects, enabling infrastructure, predictable regulation, credible developers and viable routes to market. He cited Nigeria’s 44 identified critical minerals and explained that the gap lies between mineral potential and investable projects. “Having minerals in the ground is only the beginning,” he said. “We had geological indications, but not proven reserves supported by JORC compliant data. We also had good policies, but not clearly defined projects. The world invests in projects, not potential.”
He described the Nigerian Solid Minerals Company as the country’s flagship investment platform, designed to transform mineral resources into commercially viable projects. “The company is moving Nigeria from simply saying, ‘We have minerals,’ to presenting investable projects with clear commercial propositions,” Wunti said. He welcomed U.S. measures such as Executive Order 14241, development finance initiatives, export controls and bilateral mineral agreements, noting that government policy must provide the commercial certainty needed to attract private capital.
<small>Source: Daily Post Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
