Extractive sector stakeholders, policymakers, and advocates from across Anglophone Africa gathered in Accra for the 2026 Africa Regional Extractives Industries Knowledge Hub (AFREIKH) Summer School, facing a critical question: can the continent finally turn its critical mineral wealth into real development?Organized by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) with support from the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and GIZ, the intensive one-week event launched amidst skyrocketing global demand for transition minerals like lithium, manganese, graphite, nickel and cobalt.With the global energy transition underway, Africa stands at a historical turning point, one that could either repeat past resource failures or leapfrog the continent into a sustainable, industrialized future.The summit opened with a blunt assessment of Africa’s extractive history. Addressing the 3rd cohort of next-generation researchers, policy makers, and leaders, Benjamin Boakye, the Executive Director of ACEP, did not mince words about the legacy of crude oil and precious mineral exploitation.“Across the African continent, crude oil exploration has generated enormous expectation but too often those expectations have not translated into development,” Boakye stated. “We have seen revenues lost, institutions weakened and opportunities for economic transformation missed.”He added that in many countries, mining has frequently become associated with “environmental destruction” and local communities being left behind.Rather than ignoring these past shortcomings, Boakye urged a collective reckoning to drive future reforms.“We should perhaps embrace some shame collectively about this reality. But shame on its own will not change anything. We must turn that shame into determination; determination to learn from our mistakes; determination to bring strong institutions; determination to demand accountability; and above all, determination to think differently,” he emphasized.According to him, the critical minerals lying beneath African soil must serve a higher purpose: “The resource beneath our soil should not be a curse; it should help us leapfrog development and create opportunities and address the poverty that threatens millions of Africans.”A demand for new development outcomesAs global markets scramble for resources to power technological advancements, African leaders are demanding a structural shift away from raw export models.Nafi Quarshie, Africa Director of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), challenged participants to actively dismantle the old extractive frameworks.“Our challenge is not simply to extract different minerals; it is to produce different development outcomes,” she observed.She argued that the continent cannot remain energy poor, capitally constrained, and insufficiently industrialized while holding the keys to the global green transition.To resolve this paradox, Quarshie urged for a cohesive regional strategy: “Collectively, the continent must become more strategic about where it can process, manufacture, innovate, build regional markets and develop the skills and infrastructure that will allow value to remain on this continent,” she stated.This call to move beyond simple raw resource supply was echoed by international development partners. Magdalena Wüst, Deputy Head of Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland, emphasized that natural wealth alone cannot guarantee success.“As global energy systems evolve through the energy transition, rising demand for critical minerals and shifting investment trends, Africa must move beyond being a resource supplier to capturing greater value from its national wealth,” she said.Wüst pointed out that a successful transition hinges fundamentally on domestic governance: “A successful energy transition will not only depend on Africa’s resources but also on the strength of its institutions and people that command them.”The Summer School, which runs until August 27, is designed to arm participants with the tools, foundations, and perspectives needed to navigate these complex governance and fiscal constraints. While the energy transition presents immense socioeconomic and environmental benefits, organizers warned that corruption risks and severe governance challenges continue to threaten positive outcomes.To seize this moment, resource-rich African countries must adopt appropriate economic policies that integrate the requirements of the transition while ensuring transparent, inclusive governance.As Benjamin Boakye noted, ACEP remains committed to changing this trajectory “through a comity of people willing to learn together, challenge each other remain committed for the long term.”