Nigeria, AfDB Push for African Control of Mineral Wealth
The Federal Government of Nigeria and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have called for stronger African control over the continent’s vast mineral resources, urging countries to stop exporting raw materials while importing finished products made from the same resources.
Speaking at the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation in Abidjan, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said, “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.”
Alake proposed the creation of a West African minerals processing corridor stretching from Lagos to Dakar, modeled on the Lobito Corridor in Central and Southern Africa. He argued that regional cooperation would reduce the financial burden of building separate facilities in each country and promote cross-border trade.
The minister, who chairs the Africa Mineral Strategy Group, stressed the importance of data sovereignty.
“Africa should take charge of the coding mechanisms utilised to assess its mineral assets,” he said, criticizing reliance on foreign reporting standards. He advocated the adoption of the Pan African Resource Reporting Code, which would reflect Africa’s geological and environmental realities while ensuring transparency and consistency.
AfDB President Sidi Ould Tah highlighted contradictions in Africa’s mineral wealth.
“Despite the continent’s vast deposits of critical minerals, Africa has not secured a corresponding level of global economic influence or growth from its natural resources,” he noted, pointing to inadequate financing despite abundant opportunities.
The forum adopted the Abidjan Declaration, placing financing at the center of Africa’s mineral transformation agenda.
The AfDB pledged to deploy financial instruments, mobilize capital, and support infrastructure development to build competitive and sustainable mineral value chains.
Participants agreed that Africa must move beyond raw mineral exports to build processing capacity, local industries, and jobs. They emphasized that minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and rare earths are vital for electric vehicles, renewable energy, and semiconductors, and Africa must capture more value from them.
For Nigeria, the outcome strengthens its ambition to position itself as a regional hub for mineral processing and industrial development, reducing dependence on crude oil revenues and advancing a new continental minerals architecture.