Africa has declared a fresh battle to break its long-standing dependence on the export of raw minerals, with a renewed push to process critical resources on the continent and build industries capable of creating jobs, driving innovation and retaining wealth within Africa.
The declaration was made at the 3rd High-Level Roundtable of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group in New York, where African stakeholders intensified calls for a decisive shift from exporting unprocessed minerals to developing competitive value chains across the continent.
The group stressed that Africa’s vast reserves of critical minerals are central to the technologies and industries powering the global economy, warning that the continent must no longer remain merely a supplier of raw materials to richer economies.
According to the group, Africa must move aggressively into mineral processing, manufacturing and innovation if it is to secure a meaningful share of the wealth generated by its natural resources.
A major step in that direction, it said, is the newly unveiled Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration, designed to move Africa’s mineral ambitions beyond policy statements and into concrete implementation.
The declaration seeks to align policies across the continent while establishing dedicated financing mechanisms to support bankable mineral and industrial projects capable of delivering tangible economic benefits.
The group emphasised that the objective is not simply to extract more minerals, but to build the industries, infrastructure and financing systems required to transform Africa’s natural wealth into sustainable economic prosperity.
It declared: “Africa is no longer a passive bystander in the global economy.”
The group added that the continent is now positioning itself to build the industries needed to process its resources and take greater control of the enormous wealth generated from its mineral endowment.
The renewed push comes amid growing global demand for critical minerals needed for clean energy technologies, advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, digital infrastructure and other strategic industries.
For Africa, the message from New York was unequivocal: the era of exporting raw wealth while importing finished products must end, and the continent must begin capturing more value from its own resources.
