President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged African countries to stop exporting raw minerals and focus on local processing, manufacturing and value addition.
He made the call in New York at the third Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, President Tinubu said Africa must turn its mineral resources into jobs, industries, technology and sustainable wealth.
He said the continent could not continue exporting raw materials and importing finished products at higher costs.
President Tinubu noted that minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and rare earth elements are increasingly important to clean energy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
He said African countries must ensure that mineral development benefits local communities through jobs, infrastructure, skills development and technology transfer.
The President also called for stronger cooperation among African countries, warning that competition through lower royalties, weak local content rules and excessive concessions could weaken the continent’s bargaining power.
He said cooperation would provide larger markets, stronger industries, better financing opportunities and greater negotiating power for African countries.
On Nigeria, President Tinubu said the government was strengthening local value addition, improving geological data, supporting artisanal miners and tackling illegal mining.
He disclosed that revenue from the solid minerals sector rose from about ₦6 billion in 2023 to over ₦38 billion in 2024, and between ₦68.1 billion and ₦70 billion in 2025.
The President said Nigeria’s mining reforms showed that clear policies and firm investment conditions could attract serious investment into the sector.
Earlier, Chairman of AMSG and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, said the group was proposing a Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration to strengthen Africa’s mineral value chains.
Alake urged more African countries to join the AMSG, stressing that the continent’s mineral ambitions required coordinated policies, financing and infrastructure development.
Kenya’s Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali Joho, also called for greater domestic resource mobilisation, transparency and alignment of licensing procedures among African countries.
