Value Addition Has Come To Stay, Alake Insists

In a related development, the minister has insisted that value addition has come to stay as the AMSG is resolute in discouraging exports of raw, unprocessed minerals in Africa.

Alake stated this whilst delivering a keynote address as chairman of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) at the first Malawi Mining Investment Forum.

Recall that he was unanimously elected chairman of the AMSG, a forum of African Ministers of Solid Minerals/Mineral Resources, on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier in the year.

Represented by secretary of the forum, Moses Engadu, Alake urged other African countries to take a cue from Nigeria by putting in place policies that will promote value addition for maximum beneficiation to citizens and boost the economies of countries on the continent.

“In Nigeria, we have taken the bull by the horn by making the submission of plans for post-extraction processing a new criterion for the approval of mining licences. We are putting together complementary measures to evaluate the compliance of existing mining companies with our policy on value addition,” he said.

Alake urged African countries to speak with one voice and insist on value addition, expressing optimism that investors that mean well for the continent will embrace the policy for mutual benefit.