President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued a strong call for African nations to present a common front in negotiating the terms of their mineral wealth, declaring that the era of external exploitation must end and that the continent must never accept the role of a raw material dumping ground.
The President made the declaration on Tuesday during a meeting with a delegation from the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) at the State House in Abuja. The gathering brought together mining ministers from across the continent, with the Nigerian leader serving as the group’s Grand Patron.
In his address, Tinubu did not hold back in his critique of the status quo, arguing that Africa has long been shortchanged in the global resource trade. He insisted that the continent possesses all the resources needed to power its own industrial renaissance, but that this vision would remain elusive without a coordinated strategy and political will.
“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,” Tinubu warned, urging the ministers to resist complacency and reject any arrangement that perpetuates Africa’s subordinate position in the global supply chain.
He tasked the group with dismantling bureaucratic obstacles and ensuring that the continent’s critical minerals—essential for the global energy transition—become a catalyst for domestic prosperity rather than an export ticket for foreign industries.
According to the President, the pathway to mineral sovereignty lies in aggressive local beneficiation, technology transfer, and the deliberate cultivation of refining capacity. He challenged African nations to invest heavily in research and development, questioning why the continent could not host a centralised hub for mineral processing and knowledge creation.
“I don’t see reasons we cannot demand centralisation of that conversation somewhere on the continent,” Tinubu said. “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?”
The AMSG, chaired by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, was established to advance Africa’s collective interests in the extractive sector. The group has been instrumental in pushing for policy harmonisation and has encouraged member states to adopt measures that prioritise local value addition over raw exports.
Responding to the President’s remarks, Alake noted that the Renewed Hope Agenda had provided a template for mineral sector reform that many African countries are now studying. He highlighted Nigeria’s initiatives in empowering artisanal miners and attracting investment into local processing as examples that have resonated across the continent.
Alake further disclosed that several AMSG members had already taken legislative steps, including outright bans on the export of unprocessed minerals, in alignment with the President’s charge.
“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,” Alake told the President. “Sir, we have gone implemented your charge and we are quitted that today local value addition is reverberating all over Africa.”
The ministers are currently in Abuja for the fifth edition of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS 2026), a platform designed to reshape the continent’s approach to resource governance. This year’s theme, “One Africa. One Resource Vision,” underscores the push for deeper cooperation and a unified stance in the global critical minerals market.
Alake reaffirmed the AMSG’s dedication to the President’s vision, vowing that the group would continue to work towards maximising the value and revenue that Africa derives from its mineral endowment.
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