African Mining Week 2026 runs from 14 to 16 October at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, bringing ministers, state mining companies and international investors to Convention Square for three days focused on how Africa captures more of the value of its own mineral endowment.
The event is organised by Energy Capital and Power and is co-located with African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2026, which runs from 12 to 16 October in the same city. The organiser gives the 2026 theme as Mining the Future: Unearthing Africa's Full Mineral Value.
Scale and programme
The organiser projects more than 2,000 attendees, over 90 speakers and more than 350 companies from over 30 countries for the 2026 edition. The 2025 edition drew 1,500 delegates, more than 85 speakers and 315 companies from 22 nations, so the projection represents a material step up rather than a restatement.
The programme is built around three forum days. Day one carries the Mineral Security Forum, day two the State Miners and Policymakers Forum, and day three the Africa Gold Forum. That structure puts supply security first, state ownership second and a single commodity third, which is a reasonable map of where the continent's mining policy argument currently sits.
Who is attending
Government delegations confirmed by the organiser come from Ghana, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and The Gambia. Ministers listed include Louis Watum Kabamba, Minister of Mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Polite Kambamura, Minister of Mines and Mining Development of Zimbabwe.
From the private side, Mfikeyi Makayi, Chief Executive of KoBold Metals, is among the listed speakers, as is Dr Remi Piet of Embellie Advisory. Rachelle Kasongo, Project and Events Manager at Energy Capital and Power, has set out the organiser's case for the edition.
Why it matters
Critical minerals policy is the live commercial question across the African copper, cobalt and lithium belt, and the mix of state mining houses, certification authorities and Western capital on one floor is what makes this week worth the travel. The Democratic Republic of Congo's certification and evaluation authority is attending in its own right, which is a signal that state marketing and beneficiation bodies now intend to negotiate directly rather than through intermediaries.
