Nigerian President Bola Tinubu says Africa holds the key to the world’s industrial future because of its critical minerals.
Declaring open the fifth African Natural Resources and Energy Summit (AFNIS) on Wednesday in Abuja, Tinubu said: “There can be no true industrial future without Africa,”
Represented by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, Tinubu said that a secure supply of critical minerals was impossible without the continent.
He warned against Africa remaining only a supplier of raw materials while others capture the value.
“There can be no just global order if Africa remains merely a supplier of raw materials,” Tinubu said.
He said that Africa should abandon fragmented approaches and unite to negotiate from a position of strength.
Tinubu urged African countries to build shared strategies for resources, energy and industrial growth.
“Africa must no longer export the future in raw form and import poverty in finished form,” he said.
He called for more refining, processing, manufacturing and stronger local value chains across the continent.
“We must power our factories, train our engineers and build our own value chains,” Tinubu stated.
The Nigerian President disclosed that the country was building a diversified economy driven by production and investment.
“We are strengthening the foundations for industrial growth, energy access and job creation,” he said.
Tinubu urged African nations to harmonise regulations and reduce barriers to intra-African trade.
Advocating stronger infrastructure, local enterprise support and transparent investment frameworks, Tinubu called for a new resource compact that would transform Africa’s resources into prosperity.
Earlier, in his speech, the Nigerian Minister for Solid Minerals Development, said that Africa’s resource future could not be secured through isolated actions.
The minister said that minerals, energy systems, infrastructure and markets must work together across borders.
“The gas field in one region should support power and industrial growth across borders,” Alake said.
He added that mineral corridors should support manufacturing, logistics and export opportunities and that the rising demand for critical minerals had placed Africa at the centre of global development.
He, however, noted that natural resources alone could not guarantee economic transformation and called for credible regulation, infrastructure, technology and skills required to unlock Africa’s potential.
He said that Nigeria was strengthening mining regulations and improving transparency within the sector and that mineral operators must have the capacity and commitment to develop assets.
Alake assured that Nigeria remains open to investors willing to process locally and create jobs, adding that technology transfer, community respect and transparency are crucial for partnerships.
He minister identified innovative financing as vital to Africa’s mineral and energy expansion.
Alake noted that infrastructure gaps are major obstacles limiting resource development and that transport, power and logistics gaps continue to limit Africa’s full potential.
The Nigerian minister urged the participants to support bankable projects and regional value chains.
“Let this summit move us closer to an Africa that shapes value and builds industries,” he added.
The theme of the summit was ‘One Africa, One Resource Vision’, and it focused on Africa’s resource-driven transformation.
GIK/APA