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- Says Nigeria’s mining sector reforms shot revenue up to N70bn from N6bn in 2023
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has warned African countries against continuing to export raw minerals only to buy back finished products at a premium, saying the continent must urgently develop local processing, manufacturing and value chains to retain wealth from its natural resources.
Tinubu made the call on Monday in New York, United States, while opening the 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 President, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, said Africa could no longer afford to remain a supplier of raw materials to global industries while mineral-rich communities across the continent continued to lack jobs, infrastructure and meaningful economic benefits.
“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,” Tinubu said.
He urged African countries to form an aggressive alliance to ensure that the continent moves beyond mineral extraction to processing, refining, battery production, component manufacturing and technology 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.
According to him, the growing global demand for critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and rare earth elements, driven by clean energy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, presents an opportunity for Africa to transform its mineral endowment into sustainable economic growth.
But he insisted that the value of Africa’s minerals should be measured by their impact on the lives of Africans.
“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,” he said.
Tinubu cautioned African countries against competing with one another for investment by offering lower royalties, weaker local-content requirements and excessive concessions, saying such fragmentation would undermine the continent’s negotiating position.
He said no African country could achieve the desired transformation alone, stressing the need for coordinated policies, integrated markets, shared infrastructure and stronger financing mechanisms.
The President also outlined measures being pursued in Nigeria to increase the domestic benefits of mining, including requiring local value addition for new mining licences, strengthening geological data and investor access, organising artisanal miners into cooperatives, combating illegal mining and improving regulatory accountability.
He said the reforms had contributed to increased mining revenue, which rose from approximately ₦6 billion in 2023 to more than ₦38 billion in 2024 and between ₦68.1 billion and ₦70 billion in 2025.
Tinubu also cited major foreign investment commitments and the development and commissioning of large-scale lithium processing capacity in Nasarawa State as evidence of the opportunities available under the new policy direction.
He said Nigeria’s mining policy was designed to ensure that minerals extracted in the country support Nigerian industries, workers, skills and host communities.
“Firm terms can attract serious capital,” he said, offering Nigeria’s experience as a model that could be adapted by other African countries.
The President called for partnerships with external investors to be based on mutual benefit, sovereign equality, fair market access, industrial investment and technology partnerships capable of building African capacity.
“Reliability must never mean dependency, and partnership must never demand inequality,” he said.
Tinubu also urged members of the AMSG to speak with one voice in advancing Africa’s collective interests, declaring that the continent’s mineral wealth must become a foundation for industrialisation rather than continued dependence.
He said the proposed Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration (CIEAD), adopted at the roundtable, should establish a predictable and investment-ready framework for Africa’s strategic mineral corridors, harmonised policies, responsible investment and shared infrastructure.
The President warned that the declaration must go beyond a signing ceremony, calling for a binding implementation programme with clear timelines, financing arrangements and public accountability.
Earlier, AMSG Chairman and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said the proposed CIEAD would establish a unified continental architecture for Africa’s critical and solid minerals value chains.
Alake urged African countries yet to join the AMSG to do so, stressing the need for greater coordination of efforts, ideas and resources to maximise the continent’s natural resources.
He said Africa’s mineral ambitions could not be achieved through policy implementation alone, noting that integrated partnerships covering financing and infrastructure development were essential.
Kenya’s Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali Joho, stressed the importance of domestic resource mobilisation in developing Africa’s solid minerals sector.
Joho also called for greater transparency and competitiveness among AMSG members and closer alignment of licensing procedures, while respecting the sovereignty of individual states.
Representatives of Liberia, Chad and Tanzania, among other stakeholders, also contributed to the discussions.
