NAIROBI, April 28 (Xinhua) -- African leaders and experts on Tuesday called for mineral value addition and regional unity, urging the continent to shift from exporting raw materials to becoming an industrial powerhouse.
Speaking at the opening of the two-day Kenya Mining Investment Conference and Expo 2026, Kenyan President William Ruto noted that Africa holds about 30 percent of the world's critical mineral reserves, including significant shares of cobalt, manganese, platinum, and rare earth elements essential for batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar technologies.
"For too long, we have extracted and exported raw materials while others have processed, refined, manufactured, and captured a greater share of economic value," Ruto told over 500 delegates from across Africa and the global mining ecosystem, including multinational corporations, investors, financial institutions, development partners, technologists, and community stakeholders.
Ruto highlighted the strategic opportunity for Africa to capitalize on the global shift toward clean energy, noting that demand for critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite is expected to triple by 2030.
Henry Dele Alake, Nigeria's minister of solid minerals development, emphasized that African nations must harmonize their regulatory frameworks, given that some mineral resources occur across common borders.
Alake noted that mineral-driven industrialization is the only viable path to expanding government revenue and creating high-quality jobs for Africa's burgeoning youth population.
Dahir Shire Mohamed, Somalia's minister of petroleum and mineral resources, stressed that Africa must leverage the growing demand for the continent's minerals to negotiate for technology transfer and infrastructure development.
Moses Micheal Engadu, secretary general of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, called for greater integration of African countries' mineral policies and the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area in the mining sector to promote value addition. ■
