CAPE TOWN, South Africa, August 31, 2026/APO Group/ –A delegation of senior executives and global thought leaders from S&P Global Energy is to participate in the African Mining Week (AMW), taking place October 14-16 in Cape Town, to share proprietary data and insights shaping the future of Africa’s mining sector.
 




 
 

Aligning with AMW’s 2026 theme, “Mining the Future: Critical Resources, Sustainability and Community Development,” the delegation’s participation coincides with a surge of investment-led growth in Africa. Holding approximately 30% of the world’s mineral reserves, the continent has emerged as a strategic destination for long-term capital, driven by skyrocketing global demand for critical minerals in clean energy technologies, defense applications, and advanced manufacturing.

As the leading independent provider of information, analytics, and benchmark prices for the energy and commodities markets, S&P Global Energy will help shape key discussions on the market forces and exploration trends impacting this vital sector.

The S&P Global Energy executive delegation at AMW 2026 includes:

• Atul Arya, SVP and Chief Energy Strategist
• Rahul Kapoor, VP, Head of Shipping & Metals
• Vera Blei, Head of Platts
• Fernando Araya Burchard, Critical Minerals Lead
• William Mason, Associate Director, Mining Economics & Emissions
• Malick Diallo, Commercial Lead, EMEA & CIS

Key S&P Global Presentations and Insights: During the event, S&P Global experts will provide proprietary data on the commercial realities shaping mineral development through their panel moderations and presentations. For example:

 

• Dr. Atul Arya will moderate the Ministerial Panel “Regional Policy Alignment: Mining Code Reforms to Unlock Value.”  Rahul Kapoor will guide the conversations of panels, “The New Resource Contract: Balancing Sovereignty, Nationalism, and Investor Certainty” and “Unlocking Refining Investment.” 
• Transition Minerals and Capital Allocation: Fernando Araya Burchard will explore new opportunities across exploration, production, and mineral beneficiation. He will contextualize these trends against staggering demand forecasts—including a projected 350% increase in global lithium demand and a 130% rise in graphite demand by 2040—and discuss how African governments are leveraging international partnerships to expand capacity and modernize infrastructure.
• Bucking the Trend: Africa’s Decade-High Exploration Surge and the Rising Cost of Production: Despite possessing some of the world’s largest reserves of copper, cobalt, platinum group metals, lithium, and rare earth elements, Africa attracts less than 10% of global exploration expenditure. William Mason will unpack this untapped geological potential and the commercial realities of production costs.
• S&P Global Energy will host c-suite roundtable on critical issues facing the mining industry in Africa.

ADVANCING TRANSPARENCY IN CRITICAL MINERALS 

Africa’s central role in the energy transition benefits from transparent pricing and supply chain visibility. Aiding the market’s need for such transparency, S&P Global Energy’s Platts recently launched a set of spot market price assessments for rare earth elements: first-of-their-kind, for mine-to-industry “alternative supply chains (https://apo-opa.co/3T4yhCT),” reflecting  prices of refined materials originating from Angola, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and other nations and China rare earth elements (https://apo-opa.co/45ZaGq9), on a free-on-board basis.

Additionally, S&P Global recently published independent reports on Tungsten (https://apo-opa.co/4iD8j3I), Antimony (https://apo-opa.co/4y62qAv), NdPr (https://apo-opa.co/4zI0Bvv), Gallium (https://apo-opa.co/4gHzlEI), and Germanium (https://apo-opa.co/46hrusJ). These reports aim to advance market transparency and foster dialogue among producers, processors, consumers, investors, and policymakers regarding supply chains that are essential to defense, semiconductors, aviation, and other strategic global industries.

Dr. Arya spoke with African Mining Week highlighting the importance of Africa’s mineral wealth and opportunities for African nations and companies: “Global Mineral Race Positions African Producers as Active “Price Setters”, Says S&P Global Energy (https://apo-opa.co/4y8xcZz).”

Organized by Energy Capital & Power, African Mining Week runs alongside the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2026 conference (October 12-16 in Cape Town), where S&P Global Energy is an Emerald Sponsor and will also feature an executive delegation.

For more information on African Mining Week, visit: https://African-MiningWeek.com/

For more information on S&P Global Energy, visit: https://www.SPGlobal.com/energy/en.

 

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, August 31, 2026/APO Group/ –The Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) (https://IsDBInstitute.org/) and Prince Mohammed Bin Salman College of Business & Entrepreneurship (MBSC) celebrated the graduation of the participants of the Strategic Business Leadership Program, recognizing 30 leaders from 15 IsDB Member Countries and Muslim communities.

 




  

Jointly developed by IsDBI and MBSC, the program combines executive education with practical learning to help leaders strengthen strategic execution, innovation, organizational transformation, and sustainable value creation.

The Strategic Business Leadership Program benefited from the support of three IsDB Group entities, namely the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

The graduation ceremony took place on 27 August 2026 at the IsDB Headquarters in Jeddah. It brought together senior representatives from the IsDB Group, MBSC, and program partners, along with the graduating participants.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Sami Al-Suwailem, Acting Director General of IsDB Institute, emphasized the importance of investing in human capital, knowledge, and institutional capacity to help Member Countries address emerging challenges and unlock new opportunities. He thanked ICIEC, ICD, ITFC, MBSC and all the team members who contributed to the success of the program.

The ceremony featured keynote remarks from Dr. Khalid Khalafalla, CEO of ICIEC and Acting CEO of ICD, and Mr. Nazeem Noordali, COO of ITFC, whose participation underscored the Group’s commitment to strengthening private-sector development, trade, investment, risk mitigation, and economic opportunity across IsDB Member Countries.

Dr. Zeger Degraeve, Executive Dean of MBSC, reflected on the partnership with IsDBI and commended the caliber of the graduating cohort, emphasizing the importance of translating leadership learning into tangible organizational and societal impact.

Dr. Muhammad Azam Roomi, Professor of Entrepreneurship at MBSC and Faculty Director of the program, highlighted the practical dimensions of the learning journey, including entrepreneurial thinking, strategic decision-making, innovation, and opportunity recognition and urged the participants to change lives.

Mr. Yahya Rehman, Head of IsDBI’s Knowledge Leaders Section, highlighted the Institute’s role in developing human capital and providing knowledge-based solutions that contribute to sustainable economic advancement across IsDB Member Countries.

Two representatives of the graduating cohort, Mr. Hesham Ahmed Suqail and Ms. Mahwish Naeem, also shared the participants’ perspective, reflecting on the program’s value, practical learning experience, and opportunity for peer exchange across countries and professional backgrounds. They expressed their gratitude to the IsDBI and MBSC for the life changing experience and learning.

The ceremony concluded with the award of certificates and recognition of program partners. The graduation marks the beginning of the participants’ next stage of leadership, equipping them to contribute to stronger organizations, more innovative businesses, and greater economic and societal impact in their respective countries.

The IsDBI–MBSC partnership provides a continuing platform for developing leadership capabilities across the IsDB ecosystem and empowering a new generation of leaders to translate knowledge into action and learning into sustainable development outcomes.