AFC Unveils Plans for Mineral Exploration Fund at Africa Mining Week 2026
During the Africa Mining Week held at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) from 14 to 16 October 2026, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) unveiled its plan to launch a dedicated African Mineral Exploration Fund within the year. The proposed Fund will support mineral discovery and domestic processing to strengthen Africa’s sovereignty over its #CriticalMinerals.
The decision stems from AFC’s own study report entitled ‘Compendium of Africa’s Strategic Minerals’ published earlier in 2026. According to the report, Africa holds an estimated USD 29.5 trillion in mineral resources, of which USD 8.6 trillion remains untapped due to incomplete geological data.
“If we don’t invest in African exploration, we risk losing control over where our resources end up. Investing in exploration is one of our primary targets because local value-addition strategies depend on discovering and defining new reserves.”
AFC Head of Mining Franklin Edochie
AFC Deputy Director and Head of Mining, Franklin Edochie, also underlined that AFC will strive to put Africa’s own development goals ahead of external geopolitical calculus for securing Critical Minerals. If the vast mining wealth of Africa is not utilized to improve the local livelihoods, then the development of the mining is pretty meaningless.
AFC is actively supporting financing and promoting development based on the Economic Corridor Model, whereby port, power, rail or road projects will be built, along with extracting and refining facilities, with the #Copperbelt as a case in point. In line with this concept, the AMW is overlapping with the African Energy Week, and co-located at CTICC, in a bid to resolve the power bottleneck for local smelting and refining.
Despite being a mining powerhouse, DR Congo’s territory remains largely unexplored. Currently, high-precision geological mapping has only covered 19% of the total area of the vast country. In Zambia, KoBold Metals is applying the latest #AI technologies to support exploration activities and maximize the chances of new finds.