Nigeria and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have called for greater African control over the continent’s vast mineral resources, urging countries to prioritise local value addition, regional cooperation and strategic financing to maximise economic benefits from the mining sector.
The call was made at the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, urged African mineral-producing nations to adopt a collaborative approach to developing the continent’s mineral wealth.
Alake said African countries would derive greater economic benefits by working together on mineral processing and value addition rather than relying on isolated national strategies.
He stressed the need for African nations to move beyond exporting raw minerals and instead develop industries that process and add value to mineral resources before export.
“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 said.
The minister also called for Africa to take ownership of the systems used to assess its mineral resources, describing reliance on the Australia-based Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) reporting standard as outdated.
He advocated the adoption of the Pan African Resource Reporting Code (PARC), developed by the Africa Minerals Development Centre, as a continent-wide framework for reporting mineral and energy resources.
Alake further proposed the establishment of a West African minerals processing corridor stretching from Lagos to Dakar, modelled after the Lobito Corridor, where countries would specialise in processing specific minerals based on their comparative advantages.
According to him, such regional cooperation would reduce costs, encourage cross-border trade, spread investment risks and accelerate industrial development across West Africa.
He also expressed concern over low intra-African trade, noting that trade among African countries accounts for only about 16 per cent, compared with roughly 60 per cent in Asia and 70 per cent in Europe.
Speaking at the forum, President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, said Africa’s abundant mineral resources had yet to translate into significant economic growth, citing inadequate investment and limited value addition as major challenges.
The meeting concluded with the adoption of the Abidjan Declaration, which commits African countries to strengthening regional cooperation, expanding mineral value chains and improving governance in the critical minerals sector.
Under the declaration, the AfDB pledged to deploy financing instruments, technical expertise and capital mobilisation to support strategic mining projects, reduce investment risks and promote sustainable value chains across the continent.
The forum brought together more than 20 African ministers responsible for mining, energy and industry, alongside representatives of AfDB, Afreximbank, the US Export-Import Bank and international mining companies. Participants reaffirmed the need for stronger African cooperation to ensure the continent’s mineral wealth drives sustainable economic transformation.