African mineworkers from across the continent began convening today at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel for the 3rd Executive Council Meeting of the African Federation of Miners and Mineral Wealth (AFMMW).
The three-day gathering, running from March 26–28, 2026, is hosted by the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) on the theme “Strengthening Unity and Solidarity Among the African Unions of Mines to Confront the New Global Order and Attempts to Control Natural Resources and Rare Minerals.”
The opening session featured prominent figures in the mining and labor sectors, including Abdul-Moomin Gbana, General Secretary of GMWU; Comrade Joseph Chewe, President of AFMMW; Comrade Mohamed Ahmed Abdel Halim, Secretary General of AFMMW; Dr. Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment, who delivered the keynote address; and Comrade Kwesi Pratt Jnr, General Secretary of the Socialist Movement of Ghana, as Guest Speaker.
Delegates from Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mali, Tanzania, Egypt, and other African countries are participating. They are gathering at a time when global demand for Africa’s minerals, from cobalt and lithium to graphite, coltan, nickel, and rare earths, is rapidly increasing, placing the continent at the center of the green energy transition and global industrial supply chains.
Analysts estimate that Africa holds roughly 30 percent of the world’s critical mineral reserves. Yet much of this wealth leaves the continent in raw form, with minimal local processing or value addition. Multinational corporations, backed by policies from Western governments, are intensifying their efforts to secure these resources for electric vehicles, renewable energy technologies, semiconductors, and other high-tech industries, often with little regard for labor conditions, environmental protections, or community benefits.
The timing of the meeting is therefore critical. African mineworkers are not only negotiating for fair wages, safer working conditions, and protection against casualisation but are also positioned to assert a stake in the industrial and economic value generated from their labor. The federation, founded in Cairo in February 2024, serves as a continental body uniting mineworker unions, with a mandate to protect labor rights, advance occupational health and safety standards, strengthen solidarity, and ensure that Africa’s mineral wealth benefits its people.
Over the next three days, delegates are expected to focus on strategies for continental coordination, including combating the casualisation of labor, enforcing rigorous safety standards, promoting union-led participation in mining value chains, and advocating for policies that mandate value addition and local industrial development. With the green energy transition and global tech industries increasingly dependent on African resources, the meeting represents a pivotal moment for workers to influence both labor and industrial policy at a continental scale.
The AFMMW meeting also highlights the broader challenge facing Africa: the need to convert its enormous natural wealth into tangible economic development for its citizens. With cobalt, lithium, and rare earths driving the next generation of technology, the continent stands at a crossroads, a choice between remaining a source of raw materials or becoming an active participant in the global value chain. For African mineworkers, today’s discussions are not just about labor rights; they are about reclaiming dignity, asserting ownership, and shaping Africa’s industrial future.
