Federal Government has called for a fresh continental push to end the historical exploitation of Africa’s critical mineral resources, urging African nations to unite and halt the export of raw materials.

This call was made during the AMSG High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa held on the sidelines of the ongoing 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Convened by Vice President Kashim Shettima, alongside AMSG Chairman and Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Dele Alake, the high-level dialogue, themed: ‘From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security’, focused on transforming the continent’s mineral wealth into sustainable economic growth.

In his address, Shettima told African leaders and other stakeholders that the continent could not claim to be wealthy while its children wallow in poverty, even as mines enrich the world.

He regretted that mineral-rich communities lack infrastructure, jobs and a stake in their own wealth at a time when global demand for clean energy, AI, and advanced manufacturing had made Africa’s critical minerals like cobalt, copper, lithium, and rare earth elements, indispensable to global supply chains and economic security.

The answer to such deprivation, he observed, “must be processing, refining, batteries, components, African technologies and competitive skills,” noting that “the worth of a mine must be counted in the lives it improves.

He warned, however, that no African country could achieve this alone, adding that competing through lower royalties, weaker local content, and excessive concessions would only weaken the continent’s negotiating power.

He noted that Nigeria must require local value addition for new mining licences, strengthen geological data and investor access, organise artisanal miners into cooperatives, combat illegal mining, and improve regulatory accountability

Offering other African nations the Nigerian experience for adaptation across the continent, he called for reliable partnerships grounded in mutual benefit, shared responsibility, sovereign equality and respect for our priorities, with fair market access, industrial investment and technology partnerships that build African capabilities.

On the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration adopted and signed at the Roundtable, he said it must establish a predictable, investment-ready environment for Africa’s Strategic Mineral Corridors, harmonised policies, responsible investment and shared infrastructure.

Declaring the roundtable open, he reiterated that Africa’s power resides in its people, markets and ingenuity.

Earlier, Alake said the group was proposing a Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration (CIEAD) as a landmark continental framework designed to establish a unified architecture for Africa’s critical and solid minerals value chains.