President Bola Tinubu has urged African countries to unite against the continued export of raw mineral resources, calling for greater investment in local processing, manufacturing and value addition.
Tinubu, represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, made the call at the third Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The roundtable, convened and chaired by Tinubu alongside AMSG Chairman and Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, was themed “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security.”
Tinubu said Africa must move from being a supplier of raw materials to becoming a hub for mineral processing, manufacturing and technology.
“For generations, Africa has furnished the materials of prosperity elsewhere. Our duty is to ensure that the future being fashioned from African minerals has room for African ambition,” he said.
The President said it was unacceptable for mineral-rich communities to remain without adequate infrastructure, jobs and economic benefits while their resources contribute to prosperity elsewhere.
He argued that the growing global demand for critical minerals, driven by clean energy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, presented an opportunity for Africa to retain more value from its resources.
“The answer to such deprivation must be processing, refining, batteries, components, African technologies and competitive skills,” Tinubu said.
He said the value of mining should be measured by the jobs, industries, infrastructure, technology transfer and prosperity it creates for African communities.
Tinubu warned that no African country could achieve such transformation alone, saying competition among countries through lower royalties, weaker local-content requirements and excessive concessions could undermine the continent’s bargaining power.
“Fragmentation leaves us exporting raw materials and buying finished goods at a premium. Cooperation gives our markets scale, our industries integration, our financing reach and our negotiations authority,” he said.
The President said Nigeria’s mining reforms were aimed at ensuring that minerals extracted in the country contribute to domestic industries, employment, skills development and community prosperity.
He said the government would require greater local value addition for new mining licences, strengthen geological data and investor access, organise artisanal miners into cooperatives, combat illegal mining and improve regulatory accountability.
Tinubu said government revenue from the mining sector had risen from about ₦6 billion in 2023 to more than ₦38 billion in 2024 and between ₦68.1 billion and ₦70 billion in 2025.
He also cited foreign investment commitments and the development of large-scale lithium processing capacity in Nasarawa State as evidence of the potential for greater value addition.
The President called for stronger partnerships based on mutual benefit, sovereign equality and respect for African priorities, while urging AMSG members to speak with one voice on issues affecting the continent’s mineral interests.
He said the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration (CIEAD), adopted at the roundtable, should go beyond a political commitment and establish a binding programme with clear timelines, financing arrangements, implementation mechanisms and public accountability.
Tinubu urged African countries to identify national and regional contributions while encouraging development finance institutions and sovereign investors to develop financing platforms for strategic mineral projects.
“Africa’s power resides in its people, markets and ingenuity,” he said. “We must integrate our markets, mobilise African capital and negotiate with one voice wherever our interests converge.”
Earlier, Alake said the proposed CIEAD was designed to establish a unified framework for Africa’s critical and solid mineral value chains.
He urged more African countries to join the AMSG to strengthen cooperation and coordination in the development of the continent’s mineral resources.
Kenya’s Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali-Joho, also stressed the importance of domestic resource mobilisation, transparency and competitive regulatory systems in driving the development of Africa’s solid minerals sector.
