Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged African countries to move beyond exporting raw minerals, saying resource-rich communities should derive greater economic benefits from the continent’s mineral wealth.
Vice President Kashim Shettima at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Luanda, Angola on Sunday, 30-08-2026.
Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has called on African countries to end decades of exporting mineral wealth without capturing sufficient value from processing, industrialisation and manufacturing.
Speaking on behalf of President Bola Tinubu at the Third Africa Minerals Strategy Group High-Level Roundtable in New York, Shettima said Africa could not regard itself as wealthy while communities located around mineral deposits remained poor.
He called for greater continental coordination, warning against African countries competing for investment through lower royalties, weaker local-content requirements and excessive concessions.
Instead, he advocated integrated markets, regional processing hubs and cross-border mineral corridors capable of giving Africa greater scale and strengthening its position in global mineral supply chains.
Shettima highlighted Nigeria’s mining reforms, including greater emphasis on local value addition, improved geological information, formalisation of artisanal miners and measures against illegal mining.
He also pointed to growing mining revenues and investments in lithium processing in Nasarawa State as examples of the opportunities presented by domestic beneficiation.
The Vice President backed the AMSG’s Mutual Assured Development (MADE) Framework, saying governments must provide predictable policies and credible institutions while investors should deliver responsible capital, technology transfer, local value and sustained commitment.
He also called for the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration to move beyond its signing ceremony into an implementation programme with clear timelines, financing and accountability.
Furthermore, he noted that the success of Africa’s mineral strategy should ultimately be visible in roads, railways, factories, competitive African enterprises, skilled jobs and thriving mining communities, stressing that mineral resources alone do not guarantee prosperity.
VP Shettima and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, who also doubles as the Chairman of the AMSG, Dele Alake, at the Third Africa Minerals Strategy Group High-Level Roundtable in New York.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, who also doubles as the Chairman of the AMSG, Dele Alake, proposed the establishment of an African Artisanal Mining Formalisation and Safety Facility.
The Minister said he believed that the move would tackle the high rate of informal mining, which has claimed the lives of over 200 people in the Eastern democratic republic of Congo in January, led to the death of scores of miners in the Central African Republic in August, and left 60 dead in West Kordofan, Sudan, a few days ago, all due to the collapse of mining sites.
He asserted that such a mechanism could support member states in accelerating cooperative formation and licensing, basic geological support, access to safer equipment, occupational health and safety training, environmental rehabilitation and, importantly, emergency preparedness in major artisanal mining areas.
The meeting also had African Ministers from member countries, development finance institutions, multilateral organisations and leading executives from the mining, technology, and processing companies as well as a representative of the United States Government and Special Advisor to the U.S. State Department on the Bureau of African Affairs, Chris Kulukundis, who expressed readiness of the U.S. government to partner with the continent to harness its minerals.
A major highlight of the event was the signing of a pact agreement by member countries, tagged the Continent Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration. The declaration is expected to create a new continental architecture for cooperation around critical minerals, including mineral value addition and policy coordination, among others.
