President Bola Tinubu has urged member states of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) to adopt a united position to strengthen Africa’s global bargaining power and promote value addition in the mineral sector.
He made the call on Tuesday at the State House while hosting a delegation of the group, a forum of African ministers responsible for mining and solid minerals.
Tinubu, who serves as Grand Patron of the AMSG chaired by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, stressed the need for collective action among African nations.
He said the continent must avoid fragmentation and ensure its mineral wealth delivers tangible benefits to its people.
“What we should do is avoid bureaucracy and deceit; we must put an end to exploitation. The rest of the world won’t mind if your country is a cesspit of dams and rubbish and excavates your raw materials without giving value,” he stated.
“It is our responsibility to collaborate and cooperate to ensure that these metals and minerals bring value to us, bring technology to us, and we can do it,” he added.
Tinubu emphasised the importance of investment in research, development, and refining capacity across African countries.
“It is how much each country will put into the research, development and refinery. I don’t see reasons we cannot demand centralisation of that conversation somewhere on the continent,” he said.
He added that Africa’s mineral wealth should be harnessed to build a knowledge-driven economy capable of improving living standards and boosting prosperity.
The President also warned against continued export of raw minerals without local processing and industrial value addition.
He said the continent must shift toward building industries that retain wealth, create jobs, and support technology transfer.
Earlier, AMSG Chairman and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, praised Tinubu’s leadership under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He said the administration’s policies have strengthened Nigeria’s mineral sector and encouraged economic diversification.
“You encouraged us to look at the focal point of the establishment of this group, which is to ensure that the African natural resources, especially with regards to minerals, critical matters, are localised, the beneficiation coming directly to Africans generally,” Alake said.
“You charged us that we should set our sails very high and ensure that local value addition is a pivot around which all the objectives of this organisation should revolve,” he added.
Alake noted that several African countries are now adopting policies restricting raw mineral exports in favour of local processing.
He also said delegates are in Abuja for the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS 2026), aimed at advancing Africa’s role in global critical mineral value chains.
