By: Goodluck E. Adubazi, Abuja.
Nigeria’s more than $582.4 billion worth of documented non-renewable natural resources must become a catalyst for industrialisation and value addition across Africa, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo M. Ike-Muonso, has said.
Ike-Muonso spoke on Tuesday in Abuja at a press conference ahead of the African Raw Materials Summit (ARMS 2026), scheduled for October 19–20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
The summit, themed “From African Feedstock to African Factory,” is expected to attract about 1,000 delegates from more than 25 countries, including government officials, industrialists, researchers, investors and development finance institutions.
The RMRDC DG said Africa could no longer afford to export raw commodities and import finished products, stressing that the continent must move from extraction to resource-based manufacturing.
“The era of seeing Africa as a pit for mineral extraction is over. The future belongs to resource-based manufacturing,” he said.
Ike-Muonso identified five key pillars of ARMS 2026 as logistics infrastructure, the proposed 30 per cent value-addition mandate, circular economy and waste industrialisation, regional value-chain integration, and technology commercialisation and capital linkage.
He said the proposed legislation requiring at least 30 per cent value addition to raw materials before export had undergone amendments following its return by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and was expected to be resubmitted for presidential assent.
According to him, the policy could create more than 1.2 million skilled jobs within five years, conserve foreign exchange and strengthen manufacturing’s contribution to GDP.
He also highlighted RMRDC reforms, including the Nigerian Integrated Information and Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISRA), digitalisation, ISO 9001:2015 certification, RMRDC 360, the digital Journal of Raw Materials Research and the RMRDC Training School for MSMEs, miners and processors.
He said the council had also entered an operational agreement with the Bank of Industry to support processing businesses and reduce supply-chain losses, while a technology-transfer partnership with the National Innovation Center for Excellence, Shanghai, China, would strengthen commercialisation of local research.
On regional integration, Ike-Muonso said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could facilitate cross-border supply chains and ensure that “Made in Africa” begins with “Source in Africa.”
He urged the media to monitor the summit’s outcomes and implementation of policies aimed at transforming Africa’s raw-materials sector.
Earlier, the Head of the ARMS Secretariat and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Mrs. Rachel Kofso, said the summit was conceived to change Africa’s approach to raw-material development by encouraging countries to process resources within the continent.
Kofso disclosed that the maiden edition attracted participants from more than 30 countries, while over 3,500 invitation letters had been sent for the 2026 edition.
Also speaking, the Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications, RMRDC, Chinyere Nnamdi Anum, said the summit would bring together industrialists, researchers, academics and government officials to develop practical strategies for resource-based industrialisation.
In her closing remarks, Mrs. Stella Azi expressed optimism that ARMS 2026 would contribute to transforming Africa’s abundant raw materials into sustainable economic opportunities through collaboration among government, industry, researchers and investors.
The summit will feature plenary sessions, policy dialogues, exhibitions, industrial site visits and the African Raw Materials Industry Awards.
