Wunti warns Africa against repeating oil mistake with lithium, cobalt, rare earths
by Adeola Balogun · The Eagle OnlineThe Chief Executive Officer of the World Energy Council Nigeria, Bala Wunti, has warned African countries against repeating the economic model that saw the continent export crude oil while importing refined petroleum products.
He urged them to add value to critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements.
Wunti said Africa must move beyond being a supplier of raw materials and position itself as a competitive hub for mineral processing and manufacturing as global demand for critical minerals continues to rise.
He spoke at the 2026 Concordia Annual Summit in New York during a panel session titled “Rare Currency: Critical Minerals in a Shifting Global Economy.”
The summit, held from September 20 to 23 at the Sheraton New York Times Square alongside the United Nations General Assembly, attracted heads of state, senior government officials and business leaders from more than 100 countries.
Wunti featured on the panel alongside Alix Steel, Principal at DrivePath Advisors and former Bloomberg Television anchor; Steven Fox, Founder and Executive Chairman of Veracity Worldwide; and Scott Monteith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Avalon Advanced Materials.
The discussion focused on the United States’ growing dependence on imported critical minerals, China’s dominance of global mineral-processing capacity and the implications for defence, electricity generation, grid transmission, technology and industrial competitiveness.
Wunti, who has more than three decades of experience in developing and financing large-scale energy systems and previously served as Chief Upstream Investment Officer at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, stressed the need for urgent action to close the global supply gap.
“The urgency, need and speed of action are essential,” Wunti said.
He noted that although the United States was seeking to increase domestic production, developing new capacity could take decades, making partnerships with allies essential.
“Closing the supply gap has become a compelling national priority for the United States. However, domestic production takes decades, allies are indispensable, and a considerable distance remains between policy ambition and commercial reality,” he said.
Wunti linked energy security to mineral security, saying the global economy was shifting from one dominated by hydrocarbons to one increasingly driven by strategic minerals.
“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,” he said.
“Whether those kilograms are controlled by allies or adversaries will help define the next global industrial order.”
The energy expert warned African governments against allowing critical minerals to be exported permanently in their raw form, drawing parallels with the continent’s experience in the oil sector.
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“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,” he said.
While acknowledging that temporary concentrate exports could be commercially necessary, Wunti said African countries should focus on developing local processing capacity, attracting investment and creating jobs through value addition.
“Africa must not remain merely a source of raw materials. It must become a processing partner,” he said.
According to him, countries that develop their mineral projects and enter the market early would have an advantage in the emerging critical-minerals economy.
“The real prize is value addition through processing, factories, employment and industrialisation on the continent, rather than exporting those opportunities to Asia,” Wunti said.
Addressing why Nigeria had yet to fully develop its 44 identified critical minerals, Wunti said the country’s major challenge was converting mineral potential into bankable investment opportunities.
“Having minerals in the ground is only the beginning. 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 said.
He identified six key requirements for attracting investment into the sector: reliable geological data, clearly defined projects, enabling infrastructure, predictable regulation, credible developers and viable routes to market.
Wunti described the Nigerian Solid Minerals Company as the country’s flagship investment platform for transforming 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,” he said.
He added that rare earth elements may not necessarily be scarce in the ground but are difficult to bring to market because of the capital and technology required.
“Rare earth elements are not necessarily rare in the ground. They are rare in the market. Bringing them to market requires capital and technology,” he said.
Wunti said Nigeria needed to present investors with actual commercial transactions rather than relying on presentations about the country’s mineral potential.
“We must present investors with actual transactions, not merely presentations. Give me a credible price, and I will give you private capital,” he said.
He also welcomed recent measures by the United States, including Executive Order 14241, development finance initiatives, export controls and bilateral mineral agreements.
He cited the $110-per-kilogram price floor for neodymium and praseodymium products under the MP Materials agreement as an example of government intervention that could provide investors with greater commercial certainty.
However, Wunti stressed that African governments must complement international measures with sound domestic policies and commercial discipline.
“Ultimately, private capital must do the heavy lifting, but governments must make projects investable,” he said.
He said governments should address risks that investors could not independently resolve, including inadequate geological information, unpredictable regulations, poor infrastructure, inefficient permitting processes and weak investment frameworks.
According to him, while governments can improve the bankability of mineral projects, they cannot turn fundamentally unviable ventures into profitable investments.
“Investors still require competitive economics and credible buyers,” Wunti said.
He identified JORC-compliant geological data, commercially viable prices, stable and competitive fiscal systems, and credible buyers as essential conditions for attracting investment.
“The lesson is price, not pitch,” he said.
Wunti further argued that credible pricing mechanisms could help bridge the gap between government policy and commercial reality.
“When the right price and investment conditions are available, processing can come to Africa. That is how we move from potential to bankability, from barrels to kilograms, and from extraction to processing,” he said.
He urged governments to strengthen supply-chain resilience through domestic capacity and diversified international partnerships, while cautioning against pursuing complete economic isolation.
“Pursue self-sufficiency, but do not pursue isolation. Complete independence is an illusion. Resilience is the goal,” Wunti said.
He added that supply-chain security did not require countries to produce everything domestically.
“Security does not mean producing everything within your borders. It means ensuring that a competitor cannot cut off your supplies within 90 days,” he said.
Wunti said a partnership model combining American technology and capital with African mineral resources, processing capacity and talent could help unlock greater value from the continent’s critical-minerals sector.
The Concordia Annual Summit is a global forum held alongside the United Nations General Assembly, bringing together leaders from government, business and civil society to discuss major international challenges.
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