President Bola Tinubu has called for a complete overhaul of the global financial architecture governing Africa’s mineral resources.
Tinubu, represented by the Vice-President Kashim Shettima, made the call at the Second Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event held on the margins of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Tinubu said it was time for African nations not only to finance their own mineral sectors but also to assert greater influence and control over the global supply chains of African products.
He stressed that such action was necessary to safeguard the sovereignty of African nations.
Tinubu further urged collective efforts by development partners and allies to help unlock the continent’s mineral economy for the benefit of Africa.
“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.”
He pledged Nigeria’s commitment towards catalysing a mineral-led renaissance under the Renewed Hope Agenda, as exemplified back home.
Tinubu urged African leaders to break the “ignoble cycle” of importing finished goods by accelerating government-led mineral exploration.
To unlock Africa’s mineral economic future, President Tinubu said the objective would be realised through four key imperatives.
He urged African nations to move up the value chain, saying: “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.”
Tinubu 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.
The President 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, 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.”
Earlier, Dr Alake, while welcoming stakeholders and partners to the event called for cohesion amongst African nations.
He said that with a determined focus and a reinvigorated sense of partnership and transparency in the minerals sector, Africa would harness the total benefits of a sustained, deepened, and well-harmonized mineral sector in all ramifications.
The UN Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Africa, UNDP, Ahunna Eziakonwa, urged African leaders to be cautious in how they position themselves to maximize the benefits of African resources for the people.
” Rather than to be subjected to extreme exploitation, which is already happening, and being extracted without appropriate value, ” she said.
She also emphasised the need for leaders on the continent to ensure partnerships that deliver technology transfer, beneficiation, and create jobs.
” 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.”
Also, 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.
” 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.”
In a related development, Vice President Shettima also attended a roundtable hosted by the Business Council for International Understanding in partnership with Flour Mills of Nigeria and other conglomerates, where he spoke about investment opportunities in Nigeria.
He also highlighted the ongoing economic reforms of President Tinubu’s administration.
Shettima told investors that President Tinubu remained a reliable ally and partner, noting that he understood the global business environment, having grown up in the American system.
He said the Nigerian economy had “turned the corner” under Tinubu’s sweeping reforms, pointing to the remarkable turnaround, stability, and positive economic indicators currently being recorded.
He urged investors to take advantage of the enabling environment and improved ease of doing business, stressing that there had never been a better time to invest in Nigeria.
In a related development, Shettima held a bilateral meeting with the Chancellor of Austria, Christian Stocker, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where both leaders agreed to strengthen ties and explore new areas of cooperation.
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