Tinubu Calls for African Alliance to End Export of Raw Minerals

Published By Aishatu Shateema Bukar On Sep 22, 2026

Tinubu Calls for African Alliance to End Export of Raw Minerals

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for a renewed continental effort to end the historical exploitation of Africa’s critical mineral resources, urging African countries to unite in promoting local processing, manufacturing and value addition.

Tinubu made the call on Monday 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 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The roundtable, convened and chaired by President Tinubu, with Vice President Kashim Shettima and Chairman of AMSG and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, focused on the theme: “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security.”

In his address, delivered by Vice President Shettima, Tinubu said Africa could no longer remain primarily a supplier of raw materials while importing finished products made from its own 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,” he said.

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

He said mineral-rich African communities must benefit through jobs, infrastructure, technology transfer, industrial development and greater participation in the value chains created from their resources.

According to Tinubu, Africa’s response should include processing and refining facilities, battery and component manufacturing, African technologies and development of competitive skills.

“The worth of a mine must be counted in the lives it improves,” he said, adding that progress should be measured by the jobs, industries, infrastructure, technology and prosperity retained across generations.

The President also stressed that no African country could achieve the required transformation alone, warning that competition among countries through lower royalties, weaker local-content requirements and excessive concessions could undermine Africa’s collective negotiating 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.

On Nigeria’s mining sector, Tinubu said his administration was strengthening local value addition, geological data and investor access, while organising artisanal miners into cooperatives, tackling illegal mining and improving regulatory accountability.

He noted that revenue from the sector rose from about ₦6 billion in 2023 to more than ₦38 billion in 2024, and between ₦68.1 billion and ₦70 billion in 2025. He also cited foreign investment commitments and the development of large-scale lithium processing capacity in Nasarawa State as indications of the sector’s potential.

Tinubu called for partnerships based on mutual benefit, shared responsibility and sovereign equality, with fair market access, industrial investment and technology partnerships that strengthen African capabilities.

He urged AMSG member states to speak with one voice in advancing the continent’s collective interests, stressing that “reliability must never mean dependency, and partnership must never demand inequality.”

The President also endorsed the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration (CIEAD) adopted at the roundtable, saying it should provide a predictable and investment-ready framework for Africa’s strategic mineral corridors through harmonised policies, responsible investment and shared infrastructure.

He called for the declaration to be backed by clear timelines, financing arrangements, implementation mechanisms and public accountability beyond the signing ceremony.

Earlier, AMSG Chairman and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, said the proposed CIEAD would establish a unified framework for Africa’s critical and solid mineral value chains.

Alake urged African countries yet to join the AMSG to become part of the initiative, stressing the need for greater coordination of efforts, ideas and resources to unlock the continent’s mineral potential.

Kenya’s Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali Joho, also underscored the importance of domestic resource mobilisation in driving solid mineral development, while calling for transparency, competitiveness and greater alignment of licensing procedures among AMSG members.

Representatives from Liberia, Chad, Tanzania and other stakeholders also contributed to discussions at the high-level roundtable.