“No More Cheap Raw Materials”: President Tinubu Demands African Control Over Global Mineral Supply Chain

ABUJA, NIGERIA — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued a strong mandate to continental leaders, declaring that Africa must immediately transition from being a mere exporter of cheap raw materials to a dominant hub for local industrial processing.  

Speaking at the opening of the 5th African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS) at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, the President—represented by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake—criticized the historical cycle of exporting unrefined minerals only to buy them back as expensive finished products.  

With Africa holding massive, strategic reserves of critical minerals vital to the global green energy transition, Tinubu urged the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) to negotiate with the global market with a unified voice. The administration emphasizes that future economic prosperity relies entirely on local value addition, building domestic manufacturing capacity, and enforcing aggressive regional supply chains.