Africa’s critical minerals wealth is attracting renewed attention from global investors, but weak financing structures and perceived investment risks continue to constrain the continent’s ability to turn deposits into commercially viable mining projects.
Critical Minerals Financing Corporation (CMFC) is seeking to bridge that gap, taking investment opportunities across Nigeria and East Africa to Resourcing Tomorrow 2026 in London, where governments, mining executives and financiers will discuss ways to accelerate mineral development.
The corporation, which is the gold sponsor of the December 1-3 summit, plans to showcase projects and financing structures designed to make African mineral assets more accessible to international lenders and institutional investors.
The pitch comes as competition for critical minerals intensifies globally, raising the economic stakes for African countries seeking to move beyond raw mineral exports into investment, processing and industrial development.
Lamon Rutten, chairman of CMFC, said the continent’s challenge was not a shortage of mineral resources or global demand, but the absence of financial and institutional structures capable of translating mineral deposits into bankable investments.
‘The world is short of the minerals it has committed to build its future on, and a material share of what is left sits in Africa. What has been missing is not geology or demand. It is the institutional layer that converts a deposit into something an international lender can underwrite,’ Rutten said.
‘CMFC exists to build that layer, and London is where we intend to say so to the governments and investors who can act on it,’ he added.
Israel Ovirih, president and co-chief executive of CMFC, said investors’ concerns about African mining projects could be addressed through stronger verification processes, staged capital deployment and clearly defined financing conditions.
‘Africa is not high risk. The absence of process is. Where we have applied verification, staged capital and conditions precedent, our transactions have behaved exactly as an institutional investor would expect them to,’ Ovirih said.
The corporation said it would use the summit to present opportunities across Nigeria and the East African corridor, alongside its investment banking framework for mobilising international capital into mining projects.
For Nigeria, the financing push comes as policymakers seek to formalise the solid minerals industry, attract private investment and reduce dependence on hydrocarbons as a source of foreign exchange and government revenue.
The country’s ability to attract financing into mining projects could determine how quickly its mineral resources translate into industrial activity, export earnings and employment.
CMFC will also participate in the fourth annual Government Roundtable on November 30 at Canada House in London, an invitation-only meeting organised in partnership with the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom.
The meeting is expected to bring together about 120 ministers, ambassadors, senior government officials, mining executives and investors from more than 60 countries to discuss mineral supply chains, investment mobilisation, project development and responsible mining.
Nigeria, South Africa and the United States are among the countries expected to be represented, placing CMFC alongside governments whose policies and investment decisions could influence the direction of mining capital.
At the summit, Ikenna Oguike, CMFC’s chief operating officer, will participate in a December 3 panel examining alternative financing models, including streaming and royalty arrangements, blended finance and export credit agency support.
A separate session on mining investment opportunities in Nigeria will examine the investment case for the country’s solid minerals industry and the role of private capital in formalising and industrialising the sector.
CMFC will exhibit at Stand H07 alongside the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, providing investors access to Nigeria’s policy framework and financing opportunities being structured within the sector.
The broader challenge for African mineral producers remains converting rising global demand into sustainable investment, domestic processing and economic value, rather than allowing the continent’s resource wealth to remain largely untapped.