By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: The Director General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, has said President Bola Tinubu’s re-election is critical to consolidating Nigeria’s industrial transformation, attracting investments and creating jobs through local processing of the country’s natural resources.
Ike-Muonso spoke on Monday in Abuja while delivering his welcome address at the second Africa Raw Materials Summit 2026, themed “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”
“To solidify these gains and complete the transition from feedstock exporter to industrial power, we must sustain this momentum, maintain policy predictability, and support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visionary leadership for a consolidated second term to finish the job he so courageously started,” he said.
He said continuity in the administration’s industrial policies would speed up the establishment of processing plants and manufacturing clusters, allowing Nigeria to stop exporting unprocessed commodities and start producing finished goods.
The RMRDC chief argued that major industrial projects, including battery-refining complexes and heavy manufacturing facilities, needed sustained policy implementation to achieve their full potential.
He warned that policy uncertainty could undermine investments and delay the country’s transition from raw material exporter to manufacturing powerhouse.
According to him, Nigeria can no longer afford to export its natural resources without substantial local processing. He said the practice deprives the country of jobs, industrial expertise and wealth that domestic manufacturing could generate.
Ike-Muonso described the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which offers access to a continental market of about 1.3 billion people, as a major opportunity for expanding manufacturing and intra-African trade.
He cautioned, however, that the agreement would deliver limited benefits if African countries lacked the manufacturing capacity to compete with imported finished products.
He named the proposed 30 per cent Raw Materials Value Addition Bill as a key instrument for strengthening domestic processing and reducing dependence on raw material exports. The proposed law would require at least 30 per cent of primary processing and beneficiation to take place in Nigeria before raw materials are exported.
Ike-Muonso projected that the framework could generate more than 1.2 million high-value jobs, attract foreign direct investment into industrial clusters and raise annual non-oil export earnings by more than $1.2 billion.
He also pointed to the Federal Government’s Nigeria First Policy, introduced in May 2025, and the Nigeria Industrial Policy 2025 as complementary initiatives to stimulate domestic production through public procurement, local sourcing and improved industrial competitiveness.
He said more than N644.9 billion was mobilised through the Bank of Industry in 2025, supporting the creation and retention of about 1.7 million direct and indirect jobs across key sectors.
On the work of the RMRDC, he said the council was turning government policies and research into practical industrial applications by developing processing technologies and equipment suited to Nigeria’s raw materials.
The council, he said, had designed, fabricated and deployed pilot processing plants and industrial machinery for mineral beneficiation, lithium concentration, agricultural processing and chemical extraction.
Ike-Muonso also highlighted the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products, a platform designed to map raw material deposits, availability, processing capacity and manufacturing demand.
He said the system would connect resource owners, researchers, investors and manufacturers, while partnerships with international research institutions and domestic development finance institutions would support the commercialisation of locally developed technologies.
He urged African governments, investors and research institutions to use the summit to secure concrete industrial agreements rather than stop at policy declarations. He proposed a continental raw materials value-addition compact, an industrial investment pipeline, a shared raw materials intelligence platform and regional value chains supported by AfCFTA.
The Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council, Otunba Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, said Nigeria’s automotive industry could gain significantly from policies that encourage local sourcing of components and materials.
He named batteries, plastics, copper and other industrial inputs as materials that could support domestic vehicle production, particularly the emerging electric vehicle industry.
Osanipin called for stronger collaboration among universities, research institutions and private companies, noting that many innovations developed by Nigerian universities had failed to reach the market. He stressed that access to raw materials alone would not guarantee industrial growth without appropriate standards, processing capacity and partnerships to turn research into commercially viable products.
The Director General of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Prof. Olusegun Ige, called for stronger cooperation between the agency and the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to identify mineral deposits and improve their processing and use.
Also, Director General of the Pan-African Alliance for Small and Medium Industries, Dr. Henry Emejeo, described local value addition as essential to Africa’s economic independence and industrial development. He urged African governments to prioritise mineral beneficiation, establish clear legal frameworks to discourage the export of unprocessed resources and strengthen intra-African trade.
Sudan’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Dr. Dayan Tahar, listed local processing and refining, reliable energy, improved market access and measures against mineral smuggling as priorities for developing Africa’s mineral sector. He also called for transparent investment procedures, better economic data and closer cooperation among governments, universities, industries and regulators.
The summit drew representatives of African governments, the Economic Community of West African States, development partners, civil society organisations, industry stakeholders and heads of ministries, departments and agencies.
Participants called for sustained political commitment, more investment in processing infrastructure and stronger regional partnerships to turn Africa’s natural resource wealth into competitive industries, finished products and sustainable jobs.
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Enoh, also called for the passage of the proposed 30 per cent legislation, saying it would strengthen domestic manufacturing and ensure Nigeria captured more value from its natural resources.
He said Africa had abundant resources but too little industrial capacity to turn them into finished products, costing the continent jobs, technical expertise and economic value. He cited lithium deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo, cocoa production in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, and copper deposits in Zambia as proof that the continent could support large-scale industrial development.
Enoh urged development partners to invest more in processing facilities and manufacturing infrastructure. He said industrial policy should be judged by results, including factories established, investments secured, jobs created and locally manufactured products, and that periodic implementation reports would help track progress.
“For me, this subject is beyond a subject. It is like a summons to Nigerians and Africans to wake up the raw material giant that Africa is,” he said.
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