UNGA81: Tinubu Calls for Fresh Push to End Exploitation of Africa’s Mineral Resources

President Bola Tinubu has called for a renewed continental push to end the exploitation of Africa’s critical mineral resources and ensure greater value is retained within the continent.

Tinubu, represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, made the call on Monday at the third Africa Minerals Strategy Group High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The roundtable, convened and chaired by Tinubu alongside the Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Chairman of AMSG, Dele Alake, focused on transforming Africa’s mineral wealth into sustainable economic development.

With the theme, “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security,” the meeting examined strategies for strengthening Africa’s position in global mineral supply chains.

Tinubu urged African countries to unite against the continued export of raw materials and move towards local processing, manufacturing and value addition.

He said Africa’s mineral-rich communities should benefit through jobs, infrastructure, technology transfer, indigenous enterprise participation and increased prosperity.

According to him, rising global demand for critical minerals linked to clean energy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing presents an opportunity for African countries to strengthen their economies.

He said the value of a mine should be measured by the improvement it brings to the lives of people in surrounding communities.

Tinubu warned that individual African countries could not effectively address the challenges alone, arguing that fragmented negotiations could weaken the continent’s bargaining position.

He called for greater cooperation to create integrated markets, strengthen industrial capacity, mobilise financing and negotiate collectively with international partners.

The President also highlighted Nigeria’s efforts to increase local value addition in the mining sector, including requirements for minerals extracted in the country to support domestic industries, workers, skills development and host communities.

He disclosed that government revenue from the mining sector rose from about N6 billion in 2023 to more than N38 billion in 2024 and between N68.1 billion and N70 billion in 2025.

Tinubu also cited foreign investment commitments and the development of large-scale lithium processing capacity in Nasarawa State as indications of the sector’s potential.

He urged AMSG member countries to adopt a common approach to developing strategic mineral corridors and ensure that the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration adopted at the meeting translates into concrete programmes with timelines, financing and accountability.

Alake said the declaration was designed to establish a unified framework for Africa’s critical and solid mineral value chains and called on more African countries to join the group.