President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday called on African nations to unite against the exploitation of the continent’s mineral wealth, insisting that raw materials must be processed locally before they are exported.
Tinubu made the declaration while receiving a delegation from the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) at the State House in Abuja. The AMSG is a continental forum of ministers responsible for mining and solid minerals development, chaired by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake. Tinubu serves as the group’s grand patron.
The president warned that Africa risks remaining a perpetual supplier of cheap raw materials to industrialised nations unless the continent takes deliberate steps to strengthen its collective bargaining power in global mineral markets.
“What we should do is avoid bureaucracy and deceit; we must put an end to exploitation. The rest of the world won’t mind if your country is a cesspit of dams and rubbish and excavates your raw materials without giving value,” Tinubu said.
He stressed that African countries must invest in research, development and refining infrastructure to unlock the full economic potential of their mineral endowments — wealth he said could drive industrialisation, generate employment and raise living standards across the continent.
“It is our responsibility to collaborate and cooperate to ensure that these metals and minerals bring value to us, bring technology to us, and we can do it,” he added.
Tinubu also advocated for technology transfer and the building of regional value chains, arguing that a knowledge-based economy anchored in mineral development could lift millions out of poverty.
In his remarks, Alake credited Tinubu’s policy direction for galvanising reform efforts across the continent, noting that local value addition has become a central objective for AMSG member states. He disclosed that some African countries have already moved to ban the export of unprocessed minerals as part of a broader strategy to retain more economic value from their natural resources.
The delegation is in Abuja for the fifth edition of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS 2026), a platform designed to advance a continental framework for resource governance, beneficiation and industrial development.
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