President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged African countries to move beyond the export of raw minerals and prioritise local processing, manufacturing and value addition to ensure that more wealth generated from the continent’s natural resources remains in Africa.
Tinubu made the call at the Third Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held in New York on September 21, 2026, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Vice President Kashim Shettima represented President Tinubu and delivered his address at the high-level meeting. The roundtable was chaired by Tinubu, who serves as the Grand Patron of AMSG, while Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, serves as chairman of the group.
The President argued that Africa should move beyond being primarily a supplier of raw materials to global industries while importing finished products at higher prices. He said developing domestic value chains would enable mineral rich countries to capture a greater share of the economic benefits generated from their resources.
He linked local processing and manufacturing to broader economic objectives, including industrial development, job creation, technology transfer, infrastructure development and stronger productive capacity. The approach is intended to ensure that Africa’s mineral resources translate into tangible economic opportunities for its citizens.
Tinubu also called for stronger continental cooperation on critical minerals, including greater investment in research, processing, refining and manufacturing. The roundtable, themed “From Resources to Wealth,” focused on mineral value addition, data sovereignty, innovative financing and critical minerals security.
The push reflects a broader African effort to move from simply extracting and exporting natural resources towards beneficiation and industrialisation. Greater local value addition could enable African economies to retain more economic value from their mineral resources while developing domestic industries, skills, employment and investment opportunities.
