Shettima Pushes Continental Action to Keep Mineral Wealth in Africa
Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged African countries to rethink how the continent exploits its mineral wealth, arguing that exporting raw resources without building industries around them leaves Africa with only a fraction of their economic value.
Shettima made the call on Monday in New York while presenting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s position at the third Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held alongside the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
He called for stronger cooperation among African countries to develop processing facilities, manufacturing capacity and integrated mineral supply chains capable of retaining more value within the continent.
The Vice President also cautioned against African countries competing against one another for mining investment by offering weaker royalties, local-content requirements or excessive concessions. Instead, he advocated regional processing hubs, integrated markets and cross-border mineral corridors that could give African producers greater scale and bargaining power.
Shettima said the success of Africa’s mineral strategy should ultimately be reflected in jobs, industries, infrastructure and improved livelihoods in communities where the resources are extracted. He also highlighted Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its mining sector through improved geological data, formalisation of artisanal mining and greater emphasis on local processing.
The position comes amid a broader push by African mineral-producing countries to retain more value from their natural resources. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Tanzania have introduced various restrictions on the export of unprocessed or minimally processed minerals, reflecting a growing shift from simply extracting resources to developing industries around them.
Nigeria has similarly been promoting domestic mineral beneficiation. In July, Shettima commissioned a large lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State, where he described the movement from extraction to processing and value-added production as central to the country’s economic diversification efforts.
The New York roundtable, chaired by Tinubu as Chairman of the AMSG General Assembly and attended by AMSG Chairman and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, focused on continental cooperation in mineral value addition, data sovereignty, innovative financing and critical minerals security.
The meeting is part of the continent’s broader effort to secure a stronger position in global critical-mineral supply chains, particularly as demand for resources such as lithium, cobalt, copper and other strategic minerals grows with the expansion of clean-energy and technology industries.
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