Dele Alake advocates for uniform policy to end exploitation in Africa’s solid mineral sector

Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, has advocated for a unified African voice to end mineral exploitation on the continent.

Alake spoke during an interview with CNBC Africa on the sidelines of the ‘future minerals’ forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He said the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), formed in 2024, is driving uniformity in policy initiatives and regulatory frameworks.

The minister said Africans face the same problems and interests and must come together to speak against exploitation, stressing that there will be no more room for divide and rule.

“It was at this forum last year, January 2024, that we came in as African ministers of minerals and I made a presentation on behalf of my country, Nigeria, with emphasis on local value addition and all the African ministers of minerals heard and became interested,” Alake said.

“And here, last year, we formed a group known as the African Mineral Strategy Group, (AMSG) and the philosophy behind that is for us to speak with one voice, because we have the same pressures, we have the same problems, we have the same interests.

“And it is important for us to speak with one voice, to come together, because together we are stronger and we cannot be dissipated or dispersed at will. So we will not give room for divide and rule anymore.

“We are talking about uniformity in policy initiatives, uniformity in regulatory framework, so that if I say in my country, Nigeria, that without a concrete plan of local value addition, we are not going to give you licence to mine.

“If there is another African country that does not have that regulation, investors can go there. But so when all of us are coming together under the banner of the African Mineral Strategy Group and speaking with one voice, it will be difficult for investors from any part of the globe to come to Africa and exploit us as they used to.”

‘OUR MINERALS HAS ALWAYS BEEN EXPLOITED’

Alake expressed concerns over the long history of Africa being exploited for its raw materials, a practice he described as “pit to port”, where extracted minerals are shipped without any local value addition.

He said under the AMSG, member countries have committed to ensuring that mineral resources are processed locally before being exported.

The policy, he said, would create jobs, stimulate local industries, and enhance the continent’s economic value.

“For centuries, Africa had been the hewers of wood and the fetchers of water and our minerals had always been exploited through what we call pit to port, which means they take the extracted minerals in the pit and then to port and ship out without local value addition,” he said.

“They go to the rest of the world outside Africa and enjoy the value chain with the multiplier effect into the economies of those countries.

“So, we said no under the auspices of the AMSG, henceforth, local value addition must be a primus inter pares in terms of policy uniformity throughout Africa, which means you don’t only extract the minerals, you process locally through refinery and all of that to add value and then create a multiplier effect through employment, through local beneficiation and other benefits to Africa before you ship out.”

Alake also highlighted the global demand for minerals like lithium, a key component in electric vehicles and smartphone batteries.

He insisted that African nations must develop industries around such minerals to retain economic benefits on the continent.