By Stella Odueme
Nigeria and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have renewed calls for African countries to take full control of the continent’s mineral resources by strengthening local value addition, harmonising mineral reporting standards and investing in regional infrastructure to drive industrialisation and economic growth.
The call was made at the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation: Pathways for African Transformation in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
According to a statement signed by Lara Owoeye-Wise, Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development on Sunday, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, said Africa must stop relying on the export of raw minerals and instead focus on processing its resources to unlock greater economic benefits.
Alake stressed that African countries would achieve more by working together than by pursuing separate national strategies, adding that regional cooperation remains critical to building globally competitive mineral value chains.
“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.”
The minister, who also chairs the Africa Mineral Strategy Group (AMSG), urged African governments to establish sovereignty over the systems used to evaluate and report mineral resources.
He described Africa’s continued dependence on the Australia-based Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) reporting code as outdated and called for the adoption of the Pan African Resource Reporting Code (PARC) developed by the Africa Minerals Development Centre.
According to him, the African framework would provide greater transparency, improve investor confidence and better reflect the continent’s unique geological characteristics.
Alake also proposed the creation of a regional mineral processing corridor stretching from Lagos to Dakar, saying the initiative would allow countries to pool infrastructure, reduce development costs, encourage cross-border trade and accelerate industrial growth.
He noted that intra-African trade remains significantly low at about 16 per cent compared to nearly 60 per cent in Asia and 70 per cent in Europe, underscoring the need for stronger regional integration.
In his remarks, President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, said Africa’s enormous deposits of critical minerals have not translated into commensurate economic prosperity because of inadequate financing and weak value addition.
He identified limited foreign direct investment as one of the major constraints preventing the continent from maximising the benefits of its natural resources.
The forum ended with the adoption of the Abidjan Declaration, which commits African governments to pursue coordinated policies on critical minerals while expanding regional infrastructure, financing mechanisms and mineral value chains.
