By Enyichukwu Enemanna
West Africa must end the practice of exporting raw minerals without processing them locally to derive more values, a step that must be taken to end the “pit-to-port” dependency, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu warned in Abuja on Saturday at the ongoing West Africa Economic Summit (WAES) in the capital, Abuja.
“The era of warm pit to the port must end. We must turn our mineral wealth into domestic economic value, jobs, technology, and manufacturing,” Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government, said while urging for investment in regional value chains, manufacturing, and innovation.
“To be resource-rich is not enough — we must become value chain smart and invest in local processing and regional manufacturing,” Tinubu said, a warning that comes as most countries in West Africa move to assert more domestic control on their mineral resources, curtailing the era of western dominance.
Tinubu, who came to power in 2023, had repeatedly stressed the urgency for collective economic transformation across the West African sub-region.
The Summit precedes the 67th Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS, scheduled to hold on Sunday at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, and aims to deepen regional economic integration and enhance trade and investment cooperation across the sub-region.
Tinubu warned that intraregional trade within West Africa remains under 10 per cent, which he attributed not to a lack of political will but to poor coordination.
“Opportunity alone does not guarantee transformation. The global economy will not wait for West Africa to get its hands together — nor should we.
“Rather than competing in isolation or relying on external partners, we must strengthen our regional value chain, invest in infrastructure, and coordinate our policies,” he stated.
The ECOWAS Chairman further highlighted the region’s youthful population as its greatest asset, while cautioning that it could become a liability if not supported through investment in education, digital infrastructure, and enterprise.
“Our prosperity depends on regional supply chains, energy networks, and data frameworks. We must design them together, or they will collapse separately.
“From the Lagos to Abidjan highway and the West African Power Pool to creative industry initiatives, our joint projects show what’s possible when we work together. But we must move from declarations to concrete deals — from policy frameworks to practical implementation,” Tinubu said.
The Nigerian leader also emphasised the need for Africa not to miss the opportunities presented by the next wave of industrial revolutions.
“Europe left Africa behind in previous industrial revolutions. We cannot afford to be left behind again. Rare minerals power tomorrow’s technologies, but that alone is not enough. We must unleash our people’s entrepreneurial spirit, supported by market-friendly policies and the rule of law,” he warned.
He concluded by calling for “actionable steps” to drive development in the region.
“Let us build a West Africa that is investible, competitive, and resilient — one that leads with vision. We must ease doing business, enhance trade, improve infrastructure connectivity, and develop innovative ideas that move our people from poverty to prosperity,” he said.
The summit attracted the participation of Presidents from Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia, Benin, Togo, and Guinea-Bissau.
