President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on African countries to unite and end the export of raw mineral resources, urging the continent to focus on local processing, manufacturing and value addition.

Tinubu made the call on Tuesday in New York, United States, while declaring open the 3rd Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the sidelines of the ongoing 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The high-level meeting, which was chaired by Tinubu, was themed, “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security.”

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Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Tinubu told African leaders and stakeholders that the continent must move away from its long-standing position as a supplier of raw materials and develop industries capable of processing its mineral resources locally.

“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,” the President said.

Tinubu expressed concern that mineral-rich communities across Africa continue to suffer from inadequate infrastructure, limited employment opportunities and insufficient participation in the wealth generated from their natural resources.

He noted that rising global demand for clean energy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing had made African critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and rare earth elements increasingly important to global supply chains.

According to the President, Africa’s response should include mineral processing and refining, battery production, component manufacturing, African technologies and the development of competitive skills.

“The worth of a mine must be counted in the lives it improves,” Tinubu said.

“Jobs, industries, infrastructure, technology transfer, African enterprise participation and prosperity retained across generations must measure our progress from resources to wealth.”

Tinubu Warns Against African Fragmentation

The President said no African country could achieve the desired transformation of its mineral sector alone.

He warned that countries competing against one another by offering lower royalties, weaker local-content requirements and excessive concessions could undermine the continent’s collective bargaining power.

“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.

Tinubu called for greater continental cooperation, saying African countries must negotiate collectively where their interests converge and ensure that partnerships with external investors strengthen rather than undermine African industrial capacity.

“Reliability must never mean dependency, and partnership must never demand inequality,” he added.

President Highlights Nigeria’s Mining Reforms

Tinubu also highlighted reforms in Nigeria’s mining sector, saying the country 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.

He disclosed that revenue from Nigeria’s mining sector rose from approximately ₦6 billion in 2023 to over ₦38 billion in 2024, and further to between ₦68.1 billion and ₦70 billion in 2025.

The President also pointed to major foreign investment commitments and the development and commissioning of large-scale lithium processing capacity in Nasarawa State as evidence of the opportunities available in the sector.

He said his administration’s mining policy was designed to ensure that minerals extracted in Nigeria contribute to the country’s industries, workers, skills and communities.

According to Tinubu, ongoing reforms have demonstrated that “firm terms can attract serious capital.”

Tinubu Backs Continental Minerals Framework

The President also endorsed the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration (CIEAD) adopted at the roundtable.

He said the declaration should create a predictable and investment-ready environment for Africa’s strategic mineral corridors through harmonised policies, responsible investment and shared infrastructure.

Tinubu, however, stressed that the declaration must go beyond a ceremonial signing and be backed by clear timelines, financing, implementation mechanisms and public accountability.

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

“We must integrate our markets, mobilise African capital and negotiate with one voice wherever our interests converge.”

He added: “Our industrial growth can strengthen global prosperity, the energy transition and secure supply chains. Minerals confer no automatic prosperity; vision, investment and industry must earn it. Political will must turn mineral promise into enduring African wealth.”

Alake Calls for More African Countries to Join AMSG

Earlier, AMSG Chairman and Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said the group was proposing the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration as a framework for establishing a unified architecture for Africa’s critical and solid minerals value chains.

Alake urged African countries that have yet to join the AMSG to become members, stressing the importance of coordinating efforts, ideas and resources to develop the continent’s natural resources.

He said Africa’s mineral ambitions could not be achieved through policy implementation alone, arguing that integrated partnerships covering financial transactions and infrastructure development were also necessary.

Kenya’s Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali Joho, also emphasised the importance of domestic resource mobilisation for solid mineral development.

Joho called for transparency, competitiveness and greater alignment of licensing procedures among AMSG members while respecting the sovereignty of individual countries.

Representatives of Liberia, Chad and Tanzania, alongside other stakeholders, also contributed to the discussions.