Cynthia Ezegwu
President Bola Tinubu has called for a comprehensive overhaul of the global financial architecture governing Africa’s mineral resources to give the continent greater control over its natural wealth.
Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, made the call on Monday at the Second Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Tinubu urged African nations to finance their own mineral sectors and assert stronger influence over global supply chains. He stressed that Africa must leverage sovereign wealth funds, blended financing vehicles, and innovative tools such as the Africa Mineral Token to secure its economic sovereignty.
“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.
The President identified four key imperatives to unlock Africa’s mineral economy: moving up the value chain through beneficiation and green manufacturing; adopting unified data standards under the African Minerals and Energy Resource Classification (AMREC) and the Pan-African Resource Reporting Code (PARC); accelerating government-led mineral exploration and national geological mapping; and strengthening collaboration through AMSG.
Tinubu commended African countries, including Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Gabon, and Kenya, for implementing policies to restrict raw mineral exports in order to promote domestic beneficiation. He pledged Nigeria’s commitment to leading a mineral-driven economic renaissance under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
READ ALSO: Shettima Touches Down in New York for UNGA 80
Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, who chaired the roundtable, called for stronger cohesion among African states to maximize the benefits of the continent’s mineral resources.
UNDP Regional Director for Africa, Ahunna Eziakonwa, cautioned African leaders against exploitative partnerships, urging instead for agreements that ensure technology transfer, job creation, and beneficiation.
Also speaking, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Stkela, said the European Union had signed 14 strategic partnerships in the raw materials value chain, including four with African nations, under its Critical Raw Materials Act adopted in 2024.
On the sidelines of the UNGA, Shettima also attended an investment roundtable hosted by the Business Council for International Understanding and held bilateral talks with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, where both sides agreed to deepen economic cooperation.