Shettima Pushes Africa to Process Raw Materials Locally, Not Export Them

Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged African countries to transition away from exporting raw materials and establish instead domestic processing industries. Shettima made these remarks during a Friday visit to Cotonou in the Republic of Benin, calling on African nations to assume control of their natural resources and position themselves as global market competitors through transforming commodities locally rather than dispatching them to overseas manufacturers.

His comments came while inspecting the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone, an integrated facility encompassing cotton processing, textile manufacturing, and agricultural processing operations. Describing industrialization as essential to Africa's independence, Shettima argued that the continent cannot persistently serve as a supplier of raw materials to foreign industries while importing costly finished goods.

Instead, African states should construct full-scale value chains enabling them to derive benefits at every production stage. According to Shettima, Nigeria's government has committed to implementing this industrialization approach throughout the nation, with federal and state governments working in close partnership.

At least six Nigerian governors accompanied the vice president's delegation, each pledging to draw lessons from Benin's industrial facility for revitalizing Nigeria's textile sector and strengthening domestic manufacturing. The excursion supported President Bola Tinubu's administration's objective to establish agro-industrial processing centers and restore local manufacturing capabilities.

The governors committed to extracting actionable lessons from the Glo-Djigbé model to enhance domestic manufacturing output. Shettima's remarks reflect longstanding worries about Africa's economic structure: for generations, the continent has exported commodities while importing manufactured products, limiting wealth creation domestically.

By touring Benin's integrated industrial facility alongside Nigerian state leaders, the administration underscored that value-addition infrastructure represents a cornerstone of national economic strategy.