President Bola Tinubu has urged African countries to forge a common front against the export of unprocessed minerals, saying the continent must stop allowing its natural resources to fuel industrialisation and prosperity elsewhere.
Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, made the call on Monday at the third Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Nigerian president, who convened and chaired the meeting alongside Minister of Solid Minerals Development and AMSG Chairman, Dele Alake, said Africa's mineral wealth should become a foundation for industrialisation, job creation and technological development across the continent.
The roundtable, themed “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security,” examined strategies for converting Africa's mineral resources into sustainable economic wealth.
Tinubu said the continent could not continue to export raw materials and subsequently purchase finished products at significantly higher costs.
He called for greater investment in mineral processing, refining, battery and component manufacturing, indigenous technologies and skills development.
“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 that communities where valuable minerals are extracted should continue to suffer from inadequate infrastructure, limited employment opportunities and little participation in the wealth generated from their resources.
He said the situation had become more urgent as critical minerals gained strategic importance globally amid the expansion of clean energy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
According to him, Africa must ensure that the growing international demand for its minerals translates into tangible economic benefits for its people.
“The worth of a mine must be counted in the lives it improves. Jobs, industries, infrastructure, technology transfer, African enterprise participation and prosperity retained across generations must measure our progress from resources to wealth,” Tinubu said.
He cautioned African governments against undercutting one another in their efforts to attract investors through lower royalties, weak local-content requirements and excessive concessions.
Such competition, he said, could diminish the continent's collective bargaining power and perpetuate its dependence on the export of raw materials.
“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.
Tinubu said Nigeria was pursuing reforms aimed at ensuring that mineral extraction translates into greater domestic economic activity.
He identified mandatory local value addition for new mining licences, stronger geological data systems and improved investor access as part of the measures being pursued by the Federal Government.
He also cited the organisation of artisanal miners into cooperatives, intensified action against illegal mining and stronger regulatory accountability as key elements of the reform programme.
The president said the reforms had contributed to increased revenue from the mining sector, which rose from about N6 billion in 2023 to more than N38 billion in 2024.
He said revenue subsequently reached between N68.1 billion and N70 billion in 2025.
Tinubu also pointed to major foreign investment commitments and the development and commissioning of large-scale lithium processing capacity in Nasarawa State as evidence of the sector's potential.
He said his administration's policy direction was designed to ensure that minerals extracted in Nigeria support local industries, create employment, develop skills and benefit mining communities.
According to him, the reforms have shown that “firm terms can attract serious capital”.
The president called for partnerships between Africa and international investors based on mutual benefit, shared responsibility, sovereign equality and respect for the continent's priorities.
He also urged AMSG member countries to coordinate their positions and negotiate collectively on strategic mineral issues.
“Reliability must never mean dependency, and partnership must never demand inequality,” he said.
Tinubu further called for the implementation of the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration adopted at the roundtable.
He said the declaration should provide a predictable and investment-ready framework for Africa's Strategic Mineral Corridors.
He, however, stressed that the document must not remain a ceremonial agreement, insisting that it should be backed by a binding implementation programme with defined timelines, financing arrangements and mechanisms for public accountability.
He also asked African countries to identify their national and regional contributions to the initiative, while development finance institutions and sovereign investors should develop appropriate financing platforms.
Speaking at the event, Alake said the proposed Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration would provide a unified framework for developing Africa's critical and solid minerals value chains.
He said the growth of AMSG demonstrated the progress being made in the continent's solid minerals sector and provided a platform for deeper cooperation among mineral-producing countries.
Kenya's Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali-Joho, called for increased domestic resource mobilisation to support the development of Africa's solid minerals industry.
He said AMSG members must also promote transparency and competitiveness while pursuing greater harmonisation of licensing procedures across countries.
Tinubu, in his closing remarks, said Africa possessed the people, markets and ingenuity required to determine the future of its mineral resources.
“Africa's power resides in its people, markets and ingenuity. No outsider will organise our continent or place our industrial interests above their own,” he said.
He added that African countries must integrate their markets, mobilise domestic capital and negotiate collectively where their interests converged.
“Minerals confer no automatic prosperity; vision, investment and industry must earn it. Political will must turn mineral promise into enduring African wealth,” the president said.
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