(Vice President Kashim Shettima. Photo Credit: Channels Tv)
Vice President Kashim Shettima has called on African countries to stop exporting raw minerals without processing them.
Africa needs to capture value through manufacturing and industrialisation instead, he said.
Shettima spoke in New York on behalf of President Tinubu at a minerals strategy meeting.
He said African countries competing by offering lower royalties and weaker requirements only hurts the continent.
Instead, they should coordinate together, build regional processing hubs and create cross-border mineral corridors to gain more power in global markets.
He pointed to Nigeria’s mining reforms as an example.
The country is pushing local value addition, improving geological information, formalizing artisanal miners and fighting illegal mining.
Nigeria is investing in lithium processing in Nasarawa State.
Shettima backed a framework that says governments must provide stable policies and credible institutions while investors must bring responsible capital and technology transfer.
He said Africa’s mineral strategy should ultimately result in roads, railways, factories, skilled jobs and thriving mining communities.
Mineral resources alone don’t guarantee prosperity, he stressed.
The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, proposed establishing an African facility to formalize artisanal mining and improve safety.
Informal mining has killed hundreds of people across the continent due to unsafe site collapses.
The facility would help countries form cooperatives, provide geological support, access to safer equipment, health and safety training and emergency preparation in mining areas.
African countries signed a Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration to coordinate on critical minerals and mineral value addition.
