UNGA 80: Tinubu Calls for Overhaul of Global Financial System for Africa’s Minerals

President Bola Tinubu has called for a bold reset in the global financial architecture governing Africa’s mineral resources, urging African nations to finance their own mineral sectors and assert collective power in global supply chains.

He said this was crucial to safeguarding sovereignty, while recommending stronger collaboration with development allies and partners to unlock Africa’s mineral economy for the continent’s benefit.

Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Tinubu made the call at the Second Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, held on the margins of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City.

“We must take the bull by the horns in financing our future. Never again shall we wait for capital to trickle in. With sovereign funds, blended vehicles, and innovative tools like the Africa Mineral Token, Africa shall finance Africa,” Tinubu said.

“To safeguard this sovereignty, we must guard our cobalt, lithium, graphite, gold, and rare earths not as fragmented states but as one continental bloc, wielding collective power in global supply chains.”

The President pledged Nigeria’s commitment to catalyzing a mineral-led renaissance under the Renewed Hope Agenda, urging African leaders to end the “ignoble cycle” of exporting raw minerals while importing finished products.

Outlining his vision, Tinubu identified four key imperatives: Climb the Value Chain: End the export of raw minerals and build industries on African soil through beneficiation and green manufacturing.

Own Africa’s Data: Leverage the African Minerals and Energy Resource Classification (AMREC) and the Pan-African Resource Reporting Code (PARC) to map and standardize geological knowledge, ensuring data ownership by Africans.

Accelerate Exploration and Mapping: Prioritize nationwide surveys, strengthen geological agencies, and pool expertise through AMSG to secure sovereignty and value creation.

Finance Africa’s Future: Mobilize sovereign funds, blended financial vehicles, and innovations like the Africa Mineral Token to drive homegrown financing.

Tinubu also commended countries like Zimbabwe, Gabon, and Kenya for enforcing export bans on raw minerals to promote local beneficiation, while noting Nigeria is accelerating similar reforms.

The President hailed Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, who chaired the event, and Uganda’s AMSG Secretary-General, H.E. Moses Michael Engadu, for steering Africa towards “a path of productivity and pride.”

“As Chair of this Roundtable, I pledge Nigeria’s unflinching commitment to ensuring that AMSG fulfils its promise of catalyzing a mineral-led renaissance. Let us rise from this dialogue with a communiqué of clarity, a framework for action, and a spirit of unity,” Tinubu affirmed.

Welcoming delegates, Dr. Alake stressed the need for cohesion and transparency among African nations, insisting that minerals are “indispensable for global sustainable development” and central to Africa’s industrialization drive.

UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Africa Director, Ahunna Eziakonwa, cautioned African leaders to guard against exploitation, urging them to prioritize partnerships that deliver technology transfer, beneficiation, and job creation.

European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Stkela, noted that under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (2024), the bloc had signed 14 strategic partnerships on raw materials value chains, including four in Africa.

In Related Development, on the sidelines of UNGA, Vice President Shettima also engaged global investors at a roundtable hosted by the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), in partnership with Flour Mills of Nigeria and other conglomerates.

Shettima assured investors that President Tinubu’s sweeping economic reforms had repositioned Nigeria for growth, stability, and investment.

“In President Tinubu, you have an ally who speaks your language, the language of business. Nigeria has turned the corner, there has never been a better time to invest,” he said.