The Raw Materials Research and Development Council has called on African countries to prioritise industrialisation over raw material extraction to address the continent’s dependence on exportation of unprocessed raw material.

Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, the director-general/CEO of the council, made the call at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday ahead of the 2025 Africa Raw Material Summit scheduled to be held in Abuja from May 20 to 22.

Mr Ike-Muonso noted that if African countries concentrate on industrialisation, it would shape the future of Africa’s resource landscape and address the continent’s dependence on the exportation of unprocessed raw material.

He said the upcoming summit aims to shift African stakeholders’ focus from raw material extraction.

The RMRDC chief explained that the summit’s key focus would also be on the legislation of the proposed 30 per cent Value Addition Mandate Bill, adding that if the bill scale through, it will require 30 per cent of raw material to be processed locally before exportation.

He noted that the value addition mandate, revised in 2015, required a transition from policy to enforceable law to redirect financial flows from speculation to industrial processing with stable market incentives.

According to him, the bill is framed as an economic strategy and a form of national defence to prevent capital flight and boost industrial growth.

He said the 30 per cent Value Addition Mandate would shift financial flows from raw exports to industrial processing, curbing exploitative trade by enforcing market rules and incentivising technology investments through stable, regulated frameworks.

He also mentioned that regional adoption of similar laws would  amplify Africa’s industrial transformation and prevent policy reversals, unlike flexible policies that allow evasion.

According to him, the summit has three core objectives: mobilising continental value addition, deepening alignment with the continental free trade area, and forging concrete and actionable partnerships.

He called for stakeholders’ support in positioning Africa in the global green and digital transition to avoid being left behind.

“If we do not industrialise now, we stand the risk of becoming spectators in a future built on resources we exported without value. We call upon the media, development partners, private investors, and every African committed to our shared prosperity to amplify this vision.

“If Value Addition Mandate is implemented effectively for 12 months, the country’s gross domestic product has the potential to rise by 12 per cent,” he said.

(NAN)