UNGA 80: Tinubu Urges Africa to Finance Its Mineral Wealth, Assert Global Influence
President Bola Tinubu has called on African nations to take charge of their mineral resources by financing development internally and asserting greater control over their role in global supply chains. Speaking through Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Second Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable, held on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Tinubu said Africa must no longer depend on external capital to fund its future.
“We must take the bull by the horns in financing our future. Never again shall we wait for capital to trickle in. With sovereign funds, blended vehicles, and innovation tools like the Africa Mineral Token, Africa shall finance Africa,” the President said in a statement shared by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha.
Tinubu urged the continent to move away from the export of raw materials and instead build industries that add value locally, citing the need to end the “ignoble cycle” of exporting rocks while importing finished goods. He emphasized the importance of standardizing and owning geological data through frameworks like the African Minerals and Energy Resource Classification (AMREC) and the Pan-African Resource Reporting Code (PARC), saying, “Without exploration, there is no sovereignty. Without mapping, there is no value.”
Calling for accelerated government-led mineral exploration, stronger geological institutions, and continent-wide surveys, Tinubu stressed that Africa must act as a unified bloc to fully harness its critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, graphite, and rare earths.
He commended countries already implementing export bans to promote local beneficiation, including Zimbabwe’s 2022 ban on raw lithium, Gabon’s planned end to manganese exports by 2029, and Kenya’s restriction on raw gold exports. He added that Nigeria is accelerating similar reforms to drive job creation, industrial growth, and long-term prosperity.
“As Chair of this Roundtable, I pledge Nigeria’s unflinching commitment to ensuring that AMSG fulfils its promise of catalyzing a mineral-led renaissance,” Tinubu stated, urging the meeting to end with a clear action framework and collective unity.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, who chaired the event, called for greater collaboration and transparency among African nations, noting that the continent’s resources are crucial for global sustainable development and rapid industrialisation.
UNDP’s Assistant Secretary-General, Ahunna Eziakonwa, warned African leaders against exploitative partnerships and stressed the need for agreements that deliver technology transfer, value addition, and job creation. “There is a scramble and a lot of interest in Africa’s minerals. Africa can shape the quantum of that partnership and determine what works,” she said.
Also speaking at the event, European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Stkela, said the EU had adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act in 2024 to boost domestic production and diversify supply chains. Under its Global Gateway strategy, the EU has signed 14 strategic mineral partnerships — four of them with African countries.