Vice President calls for regional processing hubs, stronger local content and coordinated mineral policies across the continent
Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has called on African countries to end the long-standing practice of exporting mineral resources without capturing enough value through processing, industrialisation and manufacturing.
Shettima made the call while representing President Bola Tinubu at the Third Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable in New York.
The Vice President said Africa could not continue to consider itself wealthy while communities located around the continent’s mineral deposits remained impoverished.
He urged African countries to strengthen continental coordination and avoid competing for mining investments by offering lower royalties, weaker local-content requirements and excessive concessions.
Instead, Shettima advocated the development of integrated markets, regional processing hubs and cross-border mineral corridors to provide Africa with greater scale and improve its position in global mineral supply chains.
He highlighted reforms in Nigeria’s mining sector, including efforts to promote local value addition, improve geological data, formalise artisanal mining and tackle illegal mining.
Shettima also cited rising mining revenues and investments in lithium processing in Nasarawa State as examples of the opportunities available through domestic mineral beneficiation.
The Vice President expressed support for the AMSG’s Mutual Assured Development (MADE) Framework, saying governments must provide predictable policies and credible institutions, while investors should commit to responsible capital, technology transfer, local value creation and long-term investment.
He also called for the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration to move beyond its signing into an implementation programme backed by clear timelines, financing mechanisms and accountability.
According to Shettima, the success of Africa’s mineral strategy should ultimately be measured by improvements in infrastructure, including roads and railways, the emergence of competitive African businesses, creation of skilled jobs and improved living conditions in mining communities.
He stressed that the possession of mineral resources alone could not guarantee prosperity.
Meanwhile, Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Chairman of the AMSG, Dele Alake, proposed the establishment of an African Artisanal Mining Formalisation and Safety Facility.
Alake said the proposed facility would help address the dangers associated with informal mining, particularly the frequent loss of lives from mining-site collapses across the continent.
He cited recent mining disasters in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and West Kordofan in Sudan, which he said resulted in the deaths of hundreds of miners.
According to Alake, the proposed mechanism could assist member states with the formalisation and licensing of artisanal miners, geological support, access to safer mining equipment, occupational health and safety training, environmental rehabilitation and emergency preparedness in major artisanal mining areas.
The meeting was attended by African ministers from member countries, development finance institutions, multilateral organisations and executives from mining, technology and mineral-processing companies.
A representative of the United States Government and Special Adviser to the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, Chris Kulukundis, also expressed the US government’s readiness to partner with African countries to develop the continent’s mineral resources.
A major highlight of the meeting was the signing of the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration by member countries.
The declaration is expected to establish a framework for greater continental cooperation on critical minerals, including mineral value addition and policy coordination.