Africa must halt the export of raw, unprocessed minerals and commodities to unlock an estimated $8.6 trillion in undeveloped resource wealth, ministers and industrial leaders warned at a regional summit in Abuja.
Delegates at the 2nd African Raw Materials Summit pressed for urgent legislative and policy shifts across the continent to build in-country refining and manufacturing capacity.
The calls come as African governments seek to capture higher margins along global supply chains and maximize the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Africa holds 30 percent of global critical mineral reserves, including key deposits of cobalt, lithium, manganese, rare earths, and bauxite essential for the global energy transition, yet the continent’s share of global manufacturing value-added remains in low single digits.
Policy push
Nigeria is positioning itself at the forefront of the policy shift. An amended bill mandating a minimum 30 percent local value addition on all raw material exports before shipping has passed through parliament and is currently awaiting presidential assent.
”What we continue to do is export jobs, export prosperity, and import all of it back,” said John Owan Enoh, Nigeria’s minister of State for Industry, Trade & Investment.
“The bill will make it mandatory that no raw material from this country gets exported without at least adding value to at least 30 percent.”
If signed into law, the policy could help propel Nigeria’s economy to $1 trillion by 2030, according to Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, minister of Innovation, Science and Technology.
Nigeria has already rolled out targeted export restrictions, including a ban on raw shea nut exports to protect a local market valued at $300 million, while mobilizing more than 644.9 billion naira ($435 million) through the Bank of Industry in 2025 to fund industrial capacity.
AfCFTA integration
Regional trade experts warn that without domestic processing capabilities, trade liberalization under AfCFTA could inadvertently favor foreign manufacturers over domestic producers.
The trade pact, which encompasses a 1.3 billion-person market, is projected to deliver $571 billion in income gains and create 18 million jobs by 2035, provided member states eliminate non-tariff barriers, enforce rules of origin, and attract private capital into processing infrastructure.
“The lesson is stark: AfCFTA gives us a 1.3 billion-person market, but without local manufacturing capacity, it is merely an invitation for foreign goods,” said Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, director general of Nigeria’s Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC).
He noted that in 2025 alone, Nigeria exported billions of dollars in raw cocoa, cashew, and sesame seeds without local processing.
Cross-border infrastructure
Ministers at the summit emphasised that overcoming the continent’s manufacturing deficit will require joint energy-mining development and cross-border cooperation to build commercially viable supply chains.
Noureldaim Taha, Sudan’s Minister of Minerals, highlighted four continental priorities: strengthening responsible mining, building regional refining hubs, improving geological data transparency, and curbing cross-border mineral smuggling.
”Planning minerals and energy projects together can support industrial growth and extend electricity access to surrounding communities,” Taha said, calling for shared regional infrastructure to underpin mineral refining.
International development agencies pledged technical backing for the industrial push.
Philbert Johnson, UNIDO’s representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said the agency is expanding its Programme for Country Partnership to help build regional agricultural and mineral value chains.
”The challenge before us is clear: Africa must move from exporting raw materials to producing value-added goods,” Johnson said.
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Josephine Okojie-Okeiyi is a journalist with over five years’ reporting experience. She writes on industry, agriculture, commodities, climate change, and environmental issues. She is fellow of Thomson Reuters Foundation and Bloomberg Media Initiative for Africa.
