The federal government and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have called for stronger African control over the continent’s vast mineral resources, insisting that Africa must end the export of raw minerals while importing finished products manufactured from the same resources.
The call was made by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, at the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation: Pathways for African Transformation, organised by the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Alake also proposed the establishment of a West African minerals processing corridor stretching from Lagos to Dakar, modelled after the Lobito Corridor in Central and Southern Africa, to strengthen regional value addition and industrialisation.
The proposal was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Lara Owoeye-Wise.
The forum brought together more than 20 ministers responsible for mining, energy, industry, natural resources and the green economy, alongside representatives of development finance institutions, international banks and mining companies.
Addressing participants, Alake urged African countries to move beyond isolated national approaches and adopt a coordinated strategy for controlling, processing and deriving greater value from the continent’s mineral wealth.
The minister, who is the pioneer chairman of the Africa Mineral Strategy Group, said Africa’s mineral resources could generate significantly greater economic benefits if countries collaborated on shared infrastructure, regional value chains and common standards.
“While the mantra of value addition has ushered in an era of economic independence for mineral-producing nations, we need concrete, actionable strategies to take charge and be in full control of our natural assets to ensure total economic freedom,” he said.
Alake stressed that African countries must achieve sovereignty not only over their mineral resources but also over the data and technical systems used to assess the value of those resources.
He criticised the continent’s continued reliance on foreign reporting standards for mineral exploration and reserves, arguing that Africa should develop and adopt systems that reflect its unique geological, environmental and economic realities.
“For the overall interest of the continent, and to efficiently and effectively safeguard its resources, Africa should take charge of the coding mechanisms utilised to assess its mineral assets,” he said.
The minister advocated the adoption of the Pan-African Resource Reporting Code developed by the Africa Minerals Development Centre for the public reporting of mineral and energy resources.
According to him, the framework would promote transparency, consistency and ethical competence in mineral resource certification while taking into account Africa’s peculiar geological and environmental characteristics.
Alake said the proposed Lagos-Dakar corridor would enable countries in the region to specialise in processing specific minerals while sharing infrastructure, investment risks and the benefits of mineral development.
He noted that the arrangement would reduce the huge financial burden of establishing separate processing facilities in every country while promoting cross-border trade and industrial cooperation.
The minister urged African countries to replace competition with strategic interdependence, noting that the continent’s mineral resources are spread across different countries, making regional cooperation essential for commercially viable value chains.
He said the proposed corridor aligns with Nigeria’s broader ambition of positioning itself as a regional hub for mineral processing, industrial development and value addition.
Alake also expressed concern over Africa’s low level of intra-continental trade, noting that trade within Africa accounts for only about 16 per cent, compared with approximately 60 per cent in Asia and 70 per cent in Europe.
