President Bola Tinubu has called on African countries to work together to end the export of raw mineral resources and instead develop local processing, manufacturing and value-added industries across the continent.
Tinubu made the call on Monday during the third Africa Minerals Strategy Group High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The President, who was represented at the meeting by Vice President Kashim Shettima, said Africa needed to move beyond its traditional role as a supplier of raw materials and build stronger mineral value chains capable of generating jobs, industries, technology and greater economic value for African countries.
The roundtable, convened and chaired by Tinubu alongside AMSG Chairman and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, focused on continental cooperation in mineral value addition, data sovereignty, innovative financing and critical minerals security.
Tinubu argued that Africa could not continue exporting mineral resources while importing finished products made from those same resources. He said the continent's response should include processing and refining minerals, manufacturing batteries and components, developing African technologies and improving technical skills.
He also said the benefits of mining should be measured by its impact on communities through jobs, infrastructure, technology transfer, participation by African businesses and wealth retained within the continent.
The President warned that African countries could weaken their bargaining position if they competed against one another by offering lower royalties, weaker local-content requirements and excessive concessions to investors.
According to him, greater cooperation could give African countries larger markets, more integrated industries, stronger financing capacity and greater negotiating power in global mineral supply chains.
Tinubu also outlined measures he said Nigeria should pursue, including requiring local value addition as part of new mining licences, strengthening geological data and investor access, organising artisanal miners into cooperatives, tackling illegal mining and improving regulatory accountability.
He cited increases in Nigeria's mining-sector revenue and the development of lithium-processing capacity in Nasarawa State as examples of what he described as the possibilities created by the country's current policy direction. Those figures and assessments were presented by Tinubu as part of his address.
The President also called for the implementation of the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration adopted at the roundtable. He said the framework should go beyond a signing ceremony and be backed by clear timelines, financing arrangements, implementation mechanisms and public accountability.
Tinubu urged African countries to define their national and regional contributions while calling on development finance institutions and sovereign investors to develop financing platforms capable of supporting strategic mineral projects.
Earlier, Alake said the proposed framework was intended to create a unified architecture for Africa's critical and solid-mineral value chains. Kenya's Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali Joho, also stressed the importance of domestic resource mobilisation and greater alignment of licensing procedures while respecting the sovereignty of individual countries.
The call for greater mineral processing is also consistent with a wider African policy discussion around moving up the value chain. The African Union Commission has separately highlighted the need for stronger African value chains, improved infrastructure, access to capital, skills and technology to support industrial transformation.
Tinubu's latest remarks therefore place mineral processing and continental cooperation at the centre of Nigeria's position on Africa's critical-minerals strategy as demand for minerals used in clean energy and advanced technologies continues to grow.
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