Africa’s underdevelopment is worsen by its raw minerals supplier role, says Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has lamented against the dire consequences of Africa’s long-standing profile as a supplier of raw minerals to other continents, as it has continued to keep the continent in a state of poverty and even more underdeveloped.
President Tinubu stressed the urgent need for the continent to break free from this dependency, saying the extraction of raw minerals without local processing only deepens Africa’s underdevelopment and prolongs its economic challenges.
The President, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, made the observation on Wednesday, while delivering his keynote address, titled, ‘Africa’s Natural Resources Shaping the Future’, during the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.
President Tinubu also said while Africa holds a significant portion of the world’s mineral reserves, including 92 percent of global platinum, 56 percent of cobalt, and 54 percent of manganese, and that these has left the continent at the mercy of foreign markets, forcing it to repurchase finished products at much higher prices.
His words: “A situation in which the raw minerals are extracted from our countries, exported, refined, and sold to us as finished products merely consolidates the foundations of our misery and pushes us further down the depths of underdevelopment”.
“We live in a world of electronic mobility in which lithium-powered batteries provide higher specific energy, higher energy density, higher energy efficiency, longer cycle life, and longer calendar life”, he noted.
He also said, “The global need for new battery technology has triggered a new scramble for Africa’s critical minerals. Africa possesses 92 percent of global reserves of platinum, 56 per cent of Cobalt, 54 per cent of Manganese and 36 per cent of Chromium. These are the minerals employed in the manufacturing of the new batteries. In short, the world needs Africa today more than ever”.
He called on African nations to adopt a new agenda that prioritizes local value addition, which he sees as essential to industrializing the continent and providing sustainable economic growth.
Tinubu noted that the evolution of lithium-ion development has enabled the swift production and manufacturing of portable consumer electronics such as laptops, computers, cellular phones, and electric cars.
He added that there is the urgent need for Africa to be more determined to move beyond the historical exploitation of its resources, while advocating the localization of the entire mineral value chain within the continent.
President Tinubu also assured of his administration’s commitment to adding local value to Nigeria’s mineral resources as part of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group’s (AMSG) vision chaired by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr. Dele Alake.
The President, while affirming that the AMSG is focused on transforming Africa from a supplier of raw materials into a global mining industry stakeholder who drew attention to Nigeria’s vast market of over 226 million people.
H said the success of the country’s $10 billion telecoms market is proof of its growth potential, “In the manufacturing of Lithium batteries, concentrates and components to set up their business and domesticate the value chain from extraction to production in Nigeria.”
In his remarks, Dele Alake, who also spoke at the event in his capacity as the Chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, laid out the group’s vision to transform Africa’s mining industry through local value addition and industrialization.
Alake also proposed a shift towards local value addition—processing raw minerals into finished goods within Africa—as a strategy for enhancing the continent’s economic independence and contributing more significantly to its GDP.
The minister criticized the traditional model of mineral extraction in Africa where raw materials are exported for processing abroad, resulting in lost economic opportunities and jobs on the continent, maintaining that this pattern of trade has left African nations vulnerable, as they are forced to import finished goods at inflated prices.
His words: “We are moving from commercialization to industrialization. By processing and manufacturing raw minerals into finished goods, we can increase employment, reduce our reliance on imports, and ultimately raise the contribution of the solid minerals sector to our GDP”.
He acknowledged that although the continent faces significant developmental challenges, Africa’s natural wealth provides a pathway to prosperity if leveraged correctly.
While setting the mood for the important conversation on how Africa’s natural resources should benefit the people, reduce poverty and create wealth for the people of the continent, General Secretary of AMSG, Mr. Moses Engadu, called for a new vision and political will among African leaders to ensure value addition becomes a sacrosanct condition to granting mineral license to any investor.
The roundtable had representatives from investors, development partners, multilateral institutions and major financial institutions in attendance.