President Bola Tinubu has called for a fresh continental push to end the historical exploitation of Africa’s critical mineral resources. He urged African nations to unite and halt the export of raw materials, instead transitioning to a hub for local processing, manufacturing, and value addition. This call was made during the AMSG High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The high-level dialogue, themed “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security,” focused on transforming the continent’s mineral wealth into sustainable economic growth. The event was convened and chaired by President Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, alongside AMSG Chairman and Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Dele Alake.
In his address, President Tinubu told African leaders and stakeholders that the continent cannot claim to be wealthy while its children wallow in poverty amid mines that enrich the world. He emphasized that Africa has furnished the materials of prosperity elsewhere and that its duty is to ensure that the future being fashioned from African minerals has room for African ambition.
Tinubu regretted that mineral-rich communities lack infrastructure, jobs, and a stake in their own wealth, despite the global demand for clean energy, AI, and advanced manufacturing making Africa’s critical minerals indispensable to global supply chains and economic security. He observed that the answer to such deprivation must be processing, refining, batteries, components, African technologies, and competitive skills.
The President noted that the worth of a mine must be counted in the lives it improves, emphasizing that jobs, industries, infrastructure, technology transfer, African enterprise participation, and prosperity retained across generations must measure progress from resources to wealth. He warned that no African country can achieve this alone and that competing through lower royalties, weaker local content, and excessive concessions will only weaken the continent’s negotiating power.
Tinubu emphasized that cooperation among African countries gives their markets scale, industries integration, financing reach, and negotiations authority. He cited Nigeria as an example, where revenue from mining rose from approximately ₦6 billion in 2023 to over ₦38 billion in 2024. He also outlined plans to require local value addition for new mining licenses, strengthen geological data and investor access, organize artisanal miners into cooperatives, combat illegal mining, and improve regulatory accountability.
The President’s call for an aggressive alliance among African countries aims to ensure the continent transitions from a mere supplier of raw minerals to a hub for local processing, manufacturing, and value addition. This move seeks to address the historical exploitation of Africa’s critical mineral resources and promote sustainable economic growth. The President’s initiative has sparked a renewed focus on the need for African countries to work together to harness their mineral wealth for the benefit of their citizens.
Key points
- President Tinubu urges African nations to unite and halt export of raw minerals.
- The President emphasizes the need for local processing, manufacturing, and value addition to promote sustainable economic growth.
- Cooperation among African countries is crucial to harness their mineral wealth for the benefit of their citizens.
