President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday declared that Africa must put an end to the exploitation of its vast mineral resources, warning that the rest of the world would remain indifferent to the continent’s underdevelopment as long as it continued to supply raw materials without deriving commensurate value.
The President made the remarks while receiving a delegation of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) at the State House, Abuja, urging African countries to close ranks, strengthen their bargaining power and ensure that the continent benefits more from its critical mineral wealth.
Tinubu, who serves as Grand Patron of the group, said African nations must work together to stop a pattern of resource extraction that leaves producing countries impoverished while others reap the benefits of industrial processing and technological advancement.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu said “what we should do is avoid bureaucracy and deceit; we must put an end to exploitation. The rest of the world won’t mind if your country is a cesspit of dams and rubbish and excavates your raw materials without giving value.
“It is our responsibility to collaborate and cooperate to ensure that these metals and minerals bring value to us, bring technology to us, and we can do it”, the President said.
The President stressed that the continent’s abundant mineral deposits should serve as a catalyst for industrialisation, job creation and economic transformation rather than remain a source of unprocessed exports.
He urged African governments to invest more in research, development and refining capacity, arguing that such investments would help build a knowledge-based economy capable of improving living standards across the continent.
“It is how much each country will put into the research, development and refinery. I don’t see reasons we cannot demand centralisation of that conversation somewhere on the continent. So why not utilise that in our research and development and knowledge-based economy to enhance the quality of life and bring prosperity to our people”, he said.
Tinubu further maintained that the era of exporting raw minerals without local processing and beneficiation must end, calling instead for policies that encourage domestic industries, technology transfer and value chains that retain wealth within Africa.
Earlier, the Chairman of AMSG and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, commended the President for providing leadership that has helped shape a new direction for Africa’s mineral sector.
According to Alake, Tinubu had consistently championed local value addition and beneficiation as the foundation of the group’s objectives.
“You encouraged us to look at the focal point of the establishment of this group, which is to ensure that the African natural resources, especially with regards to minerals, critical matters, are localised, the beneficiation coming directly to Africans generally,” Alake said.
“You charged us that we should set our sails very high and ensure that local value addition is a pivot around which all the objectives of this organisation should revolve.
“So, sir, we have gone implemented your charge and we are quitted that today local value addition is reverberating all over Africa.”
The minister disclosed that some African countries had already moved to prohibit the export of raw minerals as part of efforts to promote local processing and industrial development.
He also informed the President that members of AMSG were in Abuja for the fifth edition of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS 2026), where leaders are expected to advance a new continental strategy for resource management.
The summit, themed “One Africa. One Resource Vision,” seeks to position the continent as a major player in the global critical minerals value chain through beneficiation, industrialisation and strategic cooperation among member states.
Packaged by Alice Egbedele
