UNGA81: Tinubu urges Africa to end raw mineral exports

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President Bola Tinubu has called for a fresh continental push to end the exploitation of Africa’s critical mineral resources.

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Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, made the call on Monday at the third Africa Minerals Strategy Group High-level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa.

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The roundtable was held on the sidelines of the ongoing 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

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It was convened and chaired by President Tinubu, alongside AMSG Chairman and Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Dele Alake, under the theme “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security.”

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It focuses on transforming Africa’s mineral wealth into sustainable economic growth.

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The Nigerian leader urged African nations to unite and halt the export of raw materials.

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He also demanded an alliance among African countries to ensure the continent transitions from a mere supplier of raw minerals to a hub for local processing, manufacturing and value addition.

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Tinubu told African leaders and other stakeholders that the continent cannot claim to be wealthy, while its children wallow in poverty amid mines that enrich the world.

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“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 declared.

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Tinubu regretted that mineral-rich communities lack infrastructure, jobs and a stake in their own wealth.

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This, according to him, is happening at a time when global demand for clean energy, Artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing has made Africa’s critical minerals indispensable to global supply chains and economic security.

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The answer to such deprivation, he observed, “must be processing, refining, batteries, components, African technologies and competitive skills.

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“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.”

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Tinubu warned, however, that no African country can achieve this alone, adding that competing through lower royalties, weaker local content and excessive concessions would only weaken the continent’s negotiating power.

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“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.

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He noted that Nigeria must require 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

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He said, “Revenue rose from approximately N6 billion in 2023 to over N38 billion in 2024, and between N68.1 billion and N70 billion in 2025.

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“Major foreign investment commitments and large-scale lithium processing capacity developed and commissioned in Nasarawa State demonstrate the possibilities.”

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He drew attention to his administration’s mining policy direction, which stipulates that minerals extracted in Nigeria must sustain Nigerian industries, workers, skills and communities.

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He said that the ongoing reforms indicate that “firm terms can attract serious capital.”

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Tinubu called for “reliable partnerships grounded in mutual benefit, shared responsibility, sovereign equality and respect for our priorities.

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“With fair market access, industrial investment and technology partnerships that build African capabilities.”

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The Nigerian leader implored member countries of the AMSG to speak with one voice to promote Africa’s collective interest.

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The president insisted that reliability must never mean dependency, and partnership must never demand inequality.

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On the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration adopted and signed at the roundtable, he said it must establish a predictable, investment-ready environment for Africa’s Strategic Mineral Corridors.

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He stated that the declaration’s authority must survive the signing ceremony through a binding programme with timelines, financing, implementation and public accountability.

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He urged African nations to specify national and regional contributions; development finance institutions and sovereign investors to propose financing platforms.

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While declaring the roundtable open, the Nigerian leader spearheaded an aggressive alliance to retain the continent’s mineral wealth.

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He said, “Africa’s power resides in its people, markets and ingenuity. No outsider will organise our continent or place our industrial interests above their own.

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“We must integrate our markets, mobilise African capital and negotiate with one voice wherever our interests converge. Our industrial growth can strengthen global prosperity, the energy transition and secure supply chains.

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“Minerals confer no automatic prosperity; vision, investment and industry must earn it. Political will must turn mineral promise into enduring African wealth.”

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Earlier, Alake said the group was proposing a Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration. He explained that the declaration was a landmark continental framework designed to establish a unified architecture for Africa’s critical and solid minerals value chains.

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He said the strength of the gathering reflected the journey and progress made in Africa’s solid minerals sector as manifested in the growth of AMSG.

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On his part, Kenya’s Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali-Joho, underscored the importance of domestic resource mobilisation as a catalyst for solid mineral development in Africa and beyond.

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He added that for members of the AMSG to achieve holistic transformation, members must stay transparent, competitive and work towards greater alignment of licensing procedures.

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