FG Proposes Lagos-Dakar Minerals Corridor for Africa

The Federal Government of Nigeria, alongside the African Development Bank, has called for enhanced African control over the continent's mineral resources. This appeal was made by Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, during the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Alake proposed the establishment of a West African minerals processing corridor from Lagos to Dakar, inspired by the Lobito Corridor in Central and Southern Africa. He emphasized the need for African nations to collaborate on a coordinated strategy to process and derive greater value from their mineral wealth.

Alake, who is the pioneer chairman of the Africa Mineral Strategy Group, criticized Africa's reliance on foreign reporting standards for mineral exploration and urged the adoption of the Pan-African Resource Reporting Code to promote transparency and ethical competence in resource certification. He stressed the importance of achieving sovereignty over mineral resources and the data systems used to assess their value.