Nigeria and the African Development Bank, AfDB, have called for stronger African ownership of the continent’s mineral resources, with emphasis on data sovereignty, regional cooperation, and strategic financing to ensure mineral-rich countries capture more value from their natural assets.
The call was made at the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation: Pathways for African Transformation, held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, under the auspices of the AfDB.
Speaking at the forum, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, urged African mineral-producing countries to adopt a coordinated approach to interdependence and regional collaboration.
He said the continent’s mineral wealth could yield greater benefits if countries work together instead of pursuing isolated national strategies.
As one of Africa’s resource-rich countries, Nigeria has positioned itself at the forefront of efforts promoting local processing, value addition, and increased African ownership of mineral development.
AfDB President, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, in his welcome remarks, highlighted what he described as existing paradoxes.
He noted the gap between Africa’s vast mineral resources and its limited share of global economic influence, and also pointed to low levels of Foreign Direct Investment flowing into the sector despite available opportunities.
Both leaders agreed that African countries need to move beyond the export of raw minerals and develop concrete strategies to retain more control over their natural assets.
“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.
Alake, who chairs the Africa Mineral Strategy Group, AMSG, which has more than 30 member countries, also noted the group’s role in promoting a common continental approach to mineral development based on value addition.
The minister stressed the need for Africa to have sovereignty over the data and technical systems used to assess mineral wealth.
He described the continent’s continued reliance on the Australia-based Joint Ore Reserves Committee, JORC, for reporting exploration results as outdated.
Alake advocated the adoption of the Pan African Resource Reporting Code, PARC, a framework developed by the Africa Minerals Development Centre, AMDC, for public reporting of mineral and energy resources.
According to him, PARC promotes transparency, consistency and competency certification, while reflecting the specific conditions of Africa’s mineral resources.
For Nigeria, a continental reporting system is seen as important for better defining, documenting and developing its mineral assets, and for strengthening its role in the global critical minerals market.
Alake also called for stronger regional cooperation to address financing and infrastructure needs. He proposed the creation of a West African minerals processing hub and corridor, modelled on the Lobito Corridor.
The proposed corridor would run from Lagos to Dakar, with countries leveraging comparative advantages to serve as processing hubs for specific minerals.
He said such an arrangement could reduce costs, ease financial burdens, support collaborative trade, and allow countries to share risks and rewards.
He further noted that intra-African trade accounts for about 16 per cent, compared with roughly 60 per cent among Asian countries and 70 per cent among European countries, describing trade fragmentation as a challenge to sector growth.
The forum concluded with the adoption of the Abidjan Declaration. Participants agreed on the need for a coordinated approach to critical minerals policy, integrated regional infrastructure, value-chain development, and capital mobilisation.
Under the Declaration, the African Development Bank pledged to deploy financial instruments, capital structuring and mobilisation capacity, and technical expertise to support mineral-producing countries.
The aim is to catalyse public and private investment, reduce risks for strategic projects, support critical infrastructure, and accelerate the development of competitive and sustainable value chains.
The Declaration also urged countries to build national and regional capacity to create opportunities for project financing and to generate sustainable local value and employment.
The ministerial forum brought together more than 20 ministers responsible for mining, energy, industry, natural resources and the green economy.
Representatives from the African Development Bank, African Export-Import Bank, US Export-Import Bank, and mining companies from Germany, Canada and the United States also participated.
Participants reaffirmed that stronger African cooperation and greater control over mineral resources are essential to ensuring the sector contributes to broad-based and sustainable economic transformation.
