Alake Advocates for Value Addition in Africa's Mining Sector

Dele Alake, Nigeria's Minister of Solid Minerals Development and chair of the Africa Mineral Strategy Group, called for African nations to end the export of raw minerals and focus on local processing during the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He emphasized the importance of coordinated regional strategies to maximize Africa's mineral wealth and proposed adopting the Pan African Resource Reporting Code (PARC) to enhance transparency and ethical standards in mineral resource assessment.

Alake suggested establishing a West African minerals processing hub from Lagos to Dakar to facilitate infrastructure sharing, reduce operational costs, and strengthen regional mineral value chains. He expressed concern over the low level of intra-African trade, which stands at about 16%, compared to 60% in Asia and 70% in Europe.

Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, President of the African Development Bank Group, noted that Africa's mineral wealth has not translated into economic development due to inadequate financing and low foreign direct investment.

The forum concluded with the adoption of the Abidjan Declaration, focusing on financing for Africa's transformation.