Bala Wunti
Africa has spent generations exporting much of what lies beneath its soil and importing finished products made from those same resources. That contradiction remains one of the most enduring challenges in the continent’s economic history. Nigeria’s experience with crude oil illustrates both the benefits of resource development and the cost of insufficient domestic processing capacity. Today, as global interest grows in lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements, Africa has an opportunity to build on those lessons. We must ensure that the emerging critical minerals economy delivers more than another cycle of raw-material exports.
I recently reflected on remarks attributed to Uganda’s President, His Excellency Mr Yoweri Museveni, about the limited value African economies have often retained from exporting raw materials and importing finished goods. His observation raises an important question: how do we translate natural resource endowments into greater prosperity for our people? That was essentially the thrust of my intervention at the 2026 Concordia Annual Summit in New York, United States, where I encouraged African governments to rethink their approach to critical minerals and look beyond the export of raw materials.
Following my presentation, I encountered a few Nigerian Diasporans and citizens of other African countries who sought my opinion on why many of our countries on the continent keep exporting raw minerals while importing finished products. I found the engagement quite enlightening. The questions they raised went to the heart of the economic future of our continent. Will African countries use their mineral endowments to build productive industries, create jobs and strengthen their technological capabilities? Or are we going to surrender another generation of economic opportunities to countries that possess the capacity to process what Africa extracts?
Those questions are not new to me. I have spent my productive adult life in the Nigerian energy sector, and it has taught me some uncomfortable lessons about mistakes we must not repeat. For the past 50 years in Nigeria, we have priced energy in barrels. For the next 50 years, we must price it in kilogrammes, including kilogrammes of lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements. That was the challenge I put to the audience in New York. But I am also aware that the issues involved are not ones we can resolve on our own, because the character of global economic competition is changing. Access to strategic minerals and the capacity to transform them into industrial inputs are becoming central to energy security, advanced manufacturing, electricity transmission and technological development, especially in Africa.
The significance of this transition cannot be overstated. The opportunity is visible across several distinct industrial value chains: lithium, cobalt and graphite feed battery manufacturing, while rare earth elements support permanent magnets used in advanced equipment. Lithium and cobalt are important components of many battery technologies, while rare earth elements have applications in permanent magnets, electronics and renewable energy equipment. Graphite is also essential to several battery technologies. As many countries expand their investments in electric mobility, energy storage and other technologies, competition for reliable supplies of these materials is likely to intensify.
For Africa, this presents both an opportunity and a danger. The opportunity lies in converting mineral deposits into industrial capacity, skilled employment, infrastructure and export earnings. The danger is that the continent could reproduce the extractive economic arrangements that have historically limited Africa’s share of the value generated from its natural resources, as President Museveni explained in Kenya.
Nigeria’s petroleum experience provides a compelling lesson. For decades, the country exported crude oil while relying heavily on imported refined petroleum products. This arrangement exposed the economy to foreign exchange pressures, supply disruptions and international price volatility. It also demonstrated the consequences of failing to develop sufficient domestic processing capacity alongside resource extraction. As it is now quite evident, exporting crude oil and importing refined petroleum products has not been helpful, to put it mildly. That model must not be repeated with lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements.
Meanwhile, this should not be interpreted as an argument against mineral exports or international trade. It is also not an indictment of the Nigerian oil and gas sector that has, all factors considered, added considerable value to our economy. Rather, it is a call for a deliberate economic strategy that ensures resource extraction contributes to domestic productive capacity. Nigeria and other African countries must avoid all arrangements in which the environmental and social costs of mining are borne locally while the most profitable stages of the value chain occur abroad.
However, local processing cannot be established through patriotic declarations alone. It requires reliable geological information, commercially viable projects, dependable electricity, transport infrastructure, predictable regulation, skilled workers and access to markets. These are the practical foundations of investment that are central to converting mineral potential into bankable projects. After all, rational businesspeople invest in projects, not potential.
It is commendable that authorities in the sector have identified numerous mineral resources. But geological indications do not automatically constitute proven, economically recoverable reserves. Investors need credible data, transparent licensing arrangements, clear ownership structures and realistic assessments of production costs and market demand. This is where government policy must become more purposeful. Nigeria needs to strengthen geological surveys, make reliable information available to investors and establish transparent processes for awarding and monitoring mining licences.
The Nigerian Solid Minerals Company, as a flagship investment platform, must demonstrate its value by developing commercially credible projects capable of attracting private capital and delivering measurable benefits to the economy. We must not confuse the creation of an institution with the creation of an industry. What matters is whether these institutions can mobilise investment, support responsible mining, facilitate processing and generate employment. Their performance should be assessed against clear commercial, environmental and developmental benchmarks.
Equally important is the need for policy consistency. Mining investments often require substantial initial expenditure and lengthy development periods. Unpredictable taxation, arbitrary regulatory changes, insecure mining sites and inefficient permitting processes can undermine otherwise viable projects. Nigeria must provide investors with a stable framework while ensuring that companies meet their tax obligations, respect host communities and comply with environmental standards.
But private capital is key here. Governments cannot sustainably finance every stage of a complex minerals industry, nor can public subsidies indefinitely rescue commercially unviable ventures. Ultimately, private capital must do the heavy lifting, but governments must make projects investable. Investment incentives must therefore be transparent, proportionate and tied to measurable public benefits.
Going forward, Nigeria must approach local value addition pragmatically. Requiring every mineral to be processed domestically from the outset may make some projects commercially unviable, particularly where electricity, technology and infrastructure remain inadequate. Temporary concentrate exports may sometimes be necessary to establish a market or finance subsequent development. Such arrangements, however, should include agreed milestones for investment in domestic processing, with progress reviewed against realistic commercial and infrastructure conditions. Otherwise, a temporary concession could become a permanent excuse for exporting opportunities.
At the same time, African countries must negotiate mining agreements that balance commercial realities with long-term national interests. These should address local employment, skills transfer, environmental protection, community development and opportunities for domestic suppliers. The host community must have a stake in the prosperity, not merely an address beside the mine.
This also requires us to think beyond national boundaries. Regional cooperation could help African countries pool infrastructure, develop complementary processing industries and achieve economies of scale that individual markets might struggle to support. If every African country seeks to build the entire value chain within its own borders, we risk duplicating expensive infrastructure without achieving the scale needed to compete. A more practical approach is to connect mineral production in one country with processing capacity, reliable power and manufacturing opportunities in others. The important consideration is whether such arrangements retain more value within Africa and give participating countries and their communities a fair share of the benefits.
Coming back home, Nigeria must develop a coherent critical minerals strategy that connects exploration to extraction, processing, manufacturing and export markets. That strategy should identify where we can compete, what infrastructure is required and which partnerships can close gaps in technology, skills and finance. It should also establish clear responsibilities, timelines and measurable milestones, so that progress can be assessed through bankable projects, investment mobilised, processing capacity, skilled employment and opportunities for domestic suppliers. We cannot afford another resource boom that enriches external processors while leaving producing communities with environmental damage and limited economic opportunities.
The objective is not to reject foreign investment but to negotiate partnerships that create enduring domestic value. The continent’s mineral wealth should become a foundation for industrialisation, not another chapter in the history of exporting raw materials and importing finished prosperity. We should judge success not simply by the volume of minerals extracted or exported, but by the industries established, capabilities developed, jobs created and opportunities opened to our people. Africa must not merely supply the minerals that power the future. It must help build that future. That is the difference between possessing natural resources and building a prosperous economy.
•Wunti is the Chief Executive Officer of the World Energy Council (WEC) Nigeria