Africa should stop exporting its mineral wealth in raw form and start building industries around the resources it produces, President Bola Tinubu has said.
The President made the call as African leaders examined ways to gain greater economic value from the continent’s critical minerals.
Tinubu spoke on Monday through Vice President Kashim Shettima at the third Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa.
The meeting was held in New York on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Tinubu co-chaired the meeting with Minister of Solid Minerals Development and AMSG Chairman, Dele Alake.
The roundtable focused on how Africa can turn its mineral deposits into jobs, industries, investment and sustainable economic growth.
According to Tinubu, Africa has spent generations supplying raw materials that have helped build prosperity in other parts of the world.
He said the continent must now change that pattern by developing local industries around its mineral resources.
“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,” Tinubu said.
The President also drew attention to communities located near mineral deposits.
He noted that many such communities still lack basic infrastructure, jobs and a meaningful share of the wealth generated from resources extracted from their areas.
Meanwhile, growing global demand for critical minerals could give Africa a stronger role in international supply chains.
Tinubu identified clean energy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing as sectors driving demand for the minerals.
However, he said Africa would gain little from the trend if it continued to export minerals without processing them locally.
He therefore called for more investment in refining, mineral processing, battery manufacturing, technology transfer and technical skills.
Tinubu also urged African countries to work together instead of competing by offering weaker royalties or lower local-content requirements.
“Fragmentation leaves us exporting raw materials and buying finished goods at a premium,” he said.
“Cooperation gives our markets scale, our industries integration, our financing reach and our negotiations authority.”
The President also used Nigeria’s mining sector to illustrate the potential for greater local value creation.
He said the country was pushing for stronger local participation through new mining licences, improved geological data and support for artisanal miners through cooperatives.
He also called for tougher action against illegal mining.
Tinubu said government revenue from the mining sector increased from about ₦6 billion in 2023 to more than ₦38 billion in 2024.
He put projected or reported 2025 revenue at between ₦68.1 billion and ₦70 billion.
The President also highlighted foreign investment commitments and lithium processing developments in Nasarawa State as signs of growing interest in Nigeria’s mineral industry.
He said Nigeria’s mining policy should ensure that resources extracted from the country create opportunities for local businesses, workers, communities and industries.
Beyond Nigeria, Tinubu urged AMSG member states to agree on a common strategy for protecting Africa’s mineral interests.
He also supported the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration adopted at the meeting.
According to him, the declaration should not end with a formal signing.
Instead, he called for specific deadlines, funding arrangements, implementation plans and mechanisms for public accountability.
Earlier, Alake said the proposed declaration would create a framework for cooperation across Africa’s critical and solid mineral value chains.
Kenya’s Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali-Joho, also called for stronger domestic financing for mineral development.
He stressed the need for transparency, fair competition and greater coordination of mining licence procedures among AMSG member states.
The discussions ultimately centred on one key issue: how African countries can move beyond exporting mineral wealth and capture more of the economic value created from their own resources.
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