UNITED STATES, New York — Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, called on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, for a unified continental initiative to halt the export of raw critical minerals and establish local processing capacity across Africa.
Okay News reports that Bola Tinubu, represented by Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, made the demand at the third Africa Minerals Strategy Group High-level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa. The event took place on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The roundtable was convened and chaired by Bola Tinubu alongside the Africa Minerals Strategy Group Chairman and Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Dele Alake. The theme of the session was “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security.”
During the meeting, Bola Tinubu urged African nations to stop competing through lower royalties and concessions, stating that such practices weaken the continent’s negotiating leverage. He outlined Nigeria’s regulatory adjustments, noting that revenue in the country’s mining sector grew from approximately 6 billion Naira ($3.9 million USD) in 2023 to over 38 billion Naira ($24.7 million USD) in 2024, and between 68.1 billion Naira ($44.2 million USD) and 70 billion Naira ($45.5 million USD) in 2025.
“For generations, Africa has furnished the materials of prosperity elsewhere. Our duty is to ensure that the future being fashioned from African minerals has room for African ambition,” Bola Tinubu declared.
The Nigerian leader also cited local processing developments in Nasarawa State as proof that strict licensing rules requiring local value addition can attract foreign capital. Delegates at the roundtable adopted the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration to set up predictable corridors for strategic mineral developmenDr Dele Alake explained that the framework aims to construct a unified architecture for the continent’s solid mineral value chains. Kenya’s Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Hassan Ali-Joho, stated that domestic resource mobilization and the alignment of licensing procedures are essential for structural transformation across member states.
