President Bola Tinubu has called for a comprehensive reformation of the international financial framework that oversees Africa’s mineral wealth.
The President, who is being represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the ongoing UNGA, said it was high time for African countries to not only fund their own mineral industries but also exert their authority and command over the global supply chains of African commodities.
Saying this has become indispensable to safeguard the sovereignty of African nations, Tinubu further advocated for unified efforts from development allies and partners to actualize utilization of Africa’s mineral economy for the continent’s advantage.
The President made these calls at the Second Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the margins of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York City.
The roundtable, chaired by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, gathered government officials, diplomats, industry leaders and the private sector to shape Africa’s role in the minerals market.
“We must take the bull by the horns in financing our future. Never again shall we wait for capital to trickle in. With sovereign funds, blended vehicles, and innovation tools like the Africa Mineral Token, Africa shall finance Africa. To safeguard this sovereignty, we must guard our cobalt, lithium, graphite, gold, and rare earths not as fragmented states but as one continental bloc, wielding collective power in global supply chains,” the President submitted.
Pledging Nigeria’s commitment towards catalysing a mineral-led renaissance under the Renewed Hope Agenda, as exemplified back home, President Tinubu urged African leaders to end the “ignoble cycle” of importing finished goods through accelerated government-led mineral exploration.
To unlock Africa’s mineral economic future, the President said the objective will materialise based on four imperatives.
He urged African nations to climb the value chain, adding, “We must end the ignoble cycle of exporting rocks and importing finished goods. From beneficiation to green manufacturing, Africa must build industries on African soil.”
“Second, I am proud to announce that with the African Minerals and Energy Resource Classification (AMREC) and the Pan-African Resource Reporting Code (PARC), we will no longer beg for geological knowledge of our own land. Africa’s data will be mapped, standardised, and owned by Africans.
“Third, data alone is not enough. We must accelerate government-led mineral exploration and national geological mapping.
“Without exploration, there is no sovereignty. Without mapping, there is no value. Every member state must prioritise country-wide surveys, strengthen geological agencies, and pool expertise through AMSG. For when Africa owns the map, Africa owns the future.”
The Nigerian leader urged African leaders to take the bull by the horns in financing Africa’s future. “With sovereign funds, blended vehicles, and innovative tools like the Africa Mineral Token, Africa shall finance Africa,” the President maintained.
Tinubu also demanded a collective demonstration of leadership while calling upon sovereign wealth funds, private partners, and development allies to join Africa in rewriting the story of Africa’s mineral economy.
“Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Mali, Botswana, Gabon, and Ghana are already leading this new age of equal exchange, enforcing bans on the export of raw minerals to promote domestic beneficiation. Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium in 2022, Gabon’s decision to end manganese exports by 2029, and Kenya’s plan to restrict raw gold exports are historic acts of courage. Nigeria is accelerating similar reforms, for we know this is the road to jobs, to industries, and to prosperity,” the President said.
The President commended Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, who chairs the event, and the Secretary-General, H.E. Moses Michael Engadu of Uganda, for guiding Africa towards a path of productivity and pride.
“As Chair of this Roundtable, I pledge Nigeria’s unflinching commitment to ensuring that AMSG fulfils its promise of catalysing a mineral-led renaissance. Let us rise from this dialogue with a communiqué of clarity, a framework for action, and a spirit of unity,” he said.
Alake, while welcoming stakeholders and partners to the event, called for cohesion amongst African nations saying with determined focus and a reinvigorated sense of partnership and transparency in the minerals sector, Africa will harness in all ramifications the total benefits of a sustained, deepened and well harmonised mineral sector.
“These resources are indispensable for global sustainable development and remain catalyst for Africa’s rapid industrialisation,” Alake said.
Speaking at the event, UN Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director, Africa UNDP, Ahunna Eziakonwa, urged African leaders to be cautious in terms of how they position themselves to make the most of the African resources for the people, rather than to be subjected to extreme exploitation, which is already happening, and being extracted without appropriate value.
She also emphasised the need for leaders in the continent to ensure partnership that delivers technology transfer, beneficiation, and creates jobs, saying ” there is a scramble and a lot of interest in Africa’s minerals, people are coming to partner, Africa can shape the quantum of that partnership and determine what works from the partnership.
Mr Jozef Stkela, European Union Commissioner for International Partnership, said in the last few years, the European Union structured its approach, boosted, and secured its supply of critical raw materials.
He said that the EU adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act in 2024, to increase domestic production and diversify supply outside the European Union, saying “under this Act and our global gateways strategy, we have signed 14 strategic partnerships with the raw materials value chain of which four are in Africa.”
VP Shettima later held a bilateral meeting with the Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, Christian Stocker, at the UN Headquarters in New York, where both countries agreed to forge new ties and explore new ways of deepening their relationships.
*With reporting by Voice of Nigeria
