Nigerian Government urges Africa to turn resource wealth into economic prosperity

Vice President Kashim Shettima

The Nigerian Government has urged African countries to expand local manufacturing and raw-material processing, warning that the continent’s continued dependence on commodity exports limits its economic potential and participation in global trade.

Vice President Kashim Shettima made the call on Monday in Abuja, saying Africa must move beyond exporting raw materials and importing finished products to developing industries that generate higher economic value.

Mr Shettima, represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, spoke at an international conference on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Geoeconomics of African States, organised by the International Centre for Regional Integration and Trade Research (ICRITR) of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

“Resources confer potential. It is the capacity to process, transform, innovate, and negotiate that converts potential into prosperity,” Mr Shettima said.

He noted that Africa continues to supply raw materials to industries elsewhere, but imports finished products at higher prices, losing much of the economic value generated from its resources outside the continent.

The vice president cited cocoa and crude oil as examples of commodities Africa exports without sufficiently developing downstream industries to manufacture products from them.

He said the Federal Government is supporting the establishment of three lithium-processing factories in Nasarawa, Kaduna and Abuja as part of efforts to develop Nigeria’s capacity in the critical minerals value chain.

He also noted that Africa’s economic transformation would depend on its ability to move from primary production to processing, manufacturing, technology and knowledge-based services.

The director-general of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, also enjoined African countries to bolster industrialisation and regional value chains to increase the continent’s share of global trade.

Represented by her Senior Adviser, Jean-Yves Remy, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said Africa is strategically positioned to benefit from changing global supply chains on account of its natural resources, youthful population and connections to international markets.

According to her, the continent holds nearly 30 per cent of the world’s critical mineral reserves, including cobalt, lithium, manganese, copper, nickel and graphite, but accounts for only about three per cent of global exports.

She cited intra-African exports, which contributed about 17 per cent of the continent’s merchandise exports in 2024, as evidence of ample room to expand regional trade.

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala described the AfCFTA as a tool to expand production and develop regional value chains. She identified infrastructure gaps, institutional weaknesses, and non-tariff barriers as major obstacles to implementation.

She called for improved roads, ports, electricity, shipping connections and trade finance, alongside efficient customs procedures and predictable regulations to facilitate cross-border commerce.

The WTO chief also urged African universities and WTO chairs to strengthen research, training and policy engagement, saying intellectual capacity is essential to growing the continent’s economic influence.

Ngozi Egbuna, WTO chair and Nigeria’s director of ICRITR at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, said Africa must move beyond talks about its population and natural resources to address how those advantages could translate into economic power.

She noted that Africa’s population of about 1.6 billion people, coupled with its enormous resource base, has not weaned it off dependence on foreign markets, technology, financing and value chains.

She also warned that signing trade agreements and establishing a continental market is not an automatic answer to economic integration, adding that the real measure of success should be whether African businesses can trade successfully across borders and generate jobs.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan also called for stronger economic cooperation among African countries, saying the continent needs to move beyond creating a single market to developing an integrated productive economy.

Mr Jonathan, represented by John-Kennedy Opara, the executive secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, said the AfCFTA offers an opportunity to overcome the fragmentation of African markets and strengthen cooperation among countries.

“Our task is not merely to create one African market. It is to create one African productive economy,” he said.

He argued that Africa’s bargaining power would depend less on the resources beneath its soil than on its ability to transform them into productive assets.

Mr Jonathan called for greater investment in agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, automotive industries, fertilisers, machinery and renewable energy equipment to strengthen regional value chains.

He also urged African governments to invest in education, technology and entrepreneurship while ensuring that women, young people and small businesses benefit from continental integration.

The AfCFTA, which entered into force in 2019, seeks to establish a single continental market for goods and services and strengthen economic integration among African countries.

The agreement is expected to reduce trade barriers, encourage investment and enable businesses to operate across national borders with fewer restrictions.

However, implementation has been constrained by infrastructure deficits, high transportation costs, limited access to finance, border delays and differences in standards and customs procedures.

The vice-chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Bond Anyaehie, said the continent must build competitive enterprises capable of manufacturing products, providing services and financing trade within Africa.

He stated the success of the AfCFTA should be measured by Africa’s ability to source inputs, manufacture products and finance trade through local institutions.

He warned that trade liberalisation without adequate infrastructure and a continental market without competitive African businesses can not deliver meaningful economic transformation.