Nigeria and the African Development Bank (AfDB) are advocating greater regional cooperation in mineral processing to help African countries generate more value from their natural resources instead of exporting them in raw form.
The call was made at the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where African ministers, development finance institutions and industry leaders discussed ways to strengthen the continent’s mining industry.
Dele Alake, Nigeria’s minister of solid minerals development, said African countries should move away from exporting raw minerals and invest in processing and manufacturing them locally before export.
According to him, processing minerals within Africa would create jobs, attract investment and enable countries to earn more from their natural resources.
“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 of our natural assets,” Alake
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