President Bola Tinubu has warned of the dire consequences of Africa’s long-standing positioning as a supplier of mineral resources to countries on other continents.
He said the extraction of mineral resources in Africa has left the continent impoverished and further underdeveloped.
The President made the observations on Wednesday in his keynote address at the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) meeting on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, US.
President Tinubu, who appeared on behalf of Vice President Kashim Shettima, noted that although Africa accounts for a significant portion of the world’s mineral resources, including 92 percent of the world’s platinum, 56 percent of its cobalt and 54 percent of its manganese, these resources are primarily mined and exported to other countries for refining and manufacturing.
The President said extracting mineral resources without local processing only deepens Africa’s underdevelopment and prolongs its economic problems, stressing the urgent need for the continent to move away from this dependency.
In a speech titled “Africa’s Natural Resources Shaping the Future”, President Tinubu explained that this has left the continent at the mercy of foreign markets, forcing it to buy back finished goods at significantly higher prices.
“The situation in which raw ore is extracted from our country, exported, refined and sold back to us as finished products only strengthens the foundations of our national misery and pushes us further into the depths of underdevelopment.”
He called on African countries to adopt new policies that prioritize regional value-added creation, which he sees as vital to the continent’s industrialization and sustainable economic growth.
Speaking on the evolution of lithium-ion technology, President Tinubu noted that the development had enabled the rapid production and manufacturing of portable consumer electronics products such as laptops, computers, mobile phones and electric vehicles.
According to him, “We live in a world of e-mobility where lithium batteries offer higher specific energy, higher energy density, higher energy efficiency, longer cycle life and longer calendar life.”
“Global demand for new battery technology has sparked a new scramble for Africa’s critical minerals. Africa holds 92% of the world’s reserves of platinum, 56% of cobalt, 54% of manganese and 36% of chromium – minerals that are used to make new batteries. This means the world needs Africa today more than ever before.”
The President further stressed Africa’s determination to move away from the historical exploitation of its resources and advocated for the indigenization of the entire mineral value chain within the continent.
President Tinubu also assured his administration’s commitment to adding local value to Nigeria’s mineral resources as part of the vision of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), chaired by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Dele Alake.
Noting Nigeria’s huge market of over 226 million people, the President said the success of the country’s $10 billion telecommunications market was evidence of the growth potential in “setting up operations in Nigeria and domesticating the mine-to-produce value chain in the manufacturing of lithium batteries, concentrates and components.”
He asserted that AMSG is focused on transforming Africa from a supplier of raw materials to a stakeholder in the global mining industry.
Also attending the event as Chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, outlined the group’s vision to transform Africa’s mining industry through local value addition and industrialisation.
The minister criticised the traditional model of mineral extraction in Africa, where raw materials are exported overseas for processing, resulting in the loss of economic opportunities and jobs on the continent.
He argued that this trade pattern forces African countries to import finished goods at high prices, putting them in a vulnerable position.
Alake also proposed a shift towards local value addition (processing of raw minerals into finished products within Africa) as a strategy to increase the continent’s economic self-reliance and contribute more to GDP.
He said: “We are moving from commercialisation to industrialisation. Processing raw minerals into finished products will help create employment, reduce dependency on imports and ultimately increase the solid minerals sector’s contribution to GDP.”
He acknowledged that although the continent faces huge development challenges, Africa’s natural resources could pave the way to prosperity if properly harnessed.
AMSG Secretary General Moses Engadu set the tone for a crucial dialogue on how Africa’s natural resources should benefit people, reduce poverty and generate wealth for the continent’s people, and called on African leaders to have a new vision and political will to make value addition an absolute condition for the granting of mineral licences to any investor.
The roundtable was attended by representatives of investors, development partners, multilateral agencies and major financial institutions.
Desi Elmoye
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