Shettima rallies African countries to end raw mineral exports
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has called on African countries to form an aggressive alliance to end the export of raw minerals and ensure greater local processing, manufacturing and value addition across the continent.
Shettima made the call on Monday in New York, United States, while delivering President Bola Tinubu’s address at the high-level roundtable of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
The roundtable, chaired by Tinubu, was attended by Shettima, AMSG Chairman and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, and other African leaders and stakeholders.
Tinubu, in the address delivered by Shettima, said Africa could no longer afford to remain a supplier of raw materials while importing finished products made from its own resources.
“For generations, Africa has furnished the materials of prosperity elsewhere. Our duty is to ensure that the future being fashioned from African minerals has room for African ambition,” he said.
The President said mineral-rich communities across the continent continued to lack adequate infrastructure, jobs and meaningful participation in the wealth generated from their resources despite growing global demand for critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and rare earth elements.
He said Africa’s response should include processing, refining, battery production, component manufacturing, technology development and skills acquisition.
“The worth of a mine must be counted in the lives it improves. Jobs, industries, infrastructure, technology transfer, African enterprise participation and prosperity retained across generations must measure our progress from resources to wealth,” Tinubu said.
