Determined to usher a new lease of life for African economies, Nigeria and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have called for stronger African control over the continent’s vast mineral re
They advocate data sovereignty, regional collaboration and strategic financing as essential to ensuring that mineral-rich countries in Africa derive greater economic value from their natural assets.
While addressing the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation: Pathways for African Transformation, held under the auspices of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria’s solid minerals development minister, Dr Dele Alake Monday urged fellow ministers from Africa’s mineral-producing countries to adopt a strategic approach to interdependence and regional cooperation.
He added that the continent’s vast mineral wealth could generate far greater benefits if countries work together rather than pursuing isolated national approaches.
As one of Africa’s mineral-rich countries, Nigeria has increasingly positioned itself at the forefront of efforts to promote value addition, local processing and greater African ownership of the continent’s mineral development agenda.
In his welcome remarks, the president of African Development Bank, Dr Sidi Ould Tah, highlighted the paradoxes confronting Africa despite its enormous mineral wealth.
He pointed to the contradiction between Africa’s vast size and ret’s substantial deposits of critical minerals are yet to translate into commensurate gains in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
