President Bola Tinubu has urged African nations to finance their mineral sector and assert stronger influence in global supply chains to protect their sovereignty
Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Second Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the margins of the 80th UN General Assembly in New York, Tinubu called for a “total rephase” of Africa’s global financial architecture.
“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,” he said.
Tinubu outlined four imperatives for unlocking Africa’s mineral economic future:
- Climbing the value chain: “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.”
- Owning Africa’s geological data: With the African Minerals and Energy Resource Classification (AMREC) and the Pan-African Resource Reporting Code (PARC), “Africa’s data will be mapped, standardized, and owned by Africans.”
- Accelerating mineral exploration and mapping: “Without exploration, there is no sovereignty. Without mapping, there is no value.”
- Financing Africa’s future: Using sovereign funds, blended vehicles, and tools like the Africa Mineral Token.
He also highlighted examples of African nations enforcing bans on raw mineral exports to promote domestic beneficiation — such as Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium in 2022, Gabon’s plan to end manganese exports by 2029, and Kenya’s planned restriction on raw gold exports — adding that Nigeria is accelerating similar reforms.
Tinubu commended Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, who chaired the event, and AMSG 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 catalyzing a mineral-led renaissance. Let us rise from this dialogue with a communiqué of clarity, a framework for action, and a spirit of unity,” Tinubu said.
UN’s Assistant Secretary General Ahunna Eziakonwa urged African leaders to guard against exploitation and ensure technology transfer, beneficiation, and job creation. European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Stkela noted that the EU has signed 14 strategic partnerships on raw materials value chains — four of them in Africa — under its Critical Raw Materials Act adopted in 2024.
