The Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, has called for stronger efforts to transform Africa’s abundant natural resources into finished products within the continent.
Director-General of the Council, Professor Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, made the call in Abuja while announcing the second edition of the Africa Raw Materials Summit, ARMS 2026, scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
He said Africa’s resource wealth has remained largely underutilised because of continued dependence on the export of unprocessed commodities and the importation of finished products.
According to him, Nigeria has more than 582.4 billion dollars in documented non-renewable natural resources, making local value addition critical to economic development.
The DG said ARMS 2026, with the theme “From African Feedstock to African Factories,” will bring together policymakers, investors, researchers, manufacturers and other stakeholders to address barriers to Africa’s industrial transformation.
He recalled that the maiden summit, held in May 2025 under the theme “Shaping the Future of Africa’s Resource Landscape,” attracted more than 1,000 delegates and provided the platform for the unveiling of Nigeria’s 10-year Raw Materials Transformation Roadmap, covering 2025 to 2034.
READ ALSO: RMRDC Lauds President Tinubu’s Economic Transformation
The roadmap focuses on local technological capabilities, climate-resilient processing and backward integration.
Professor Ike-Muonso also highlighted the Council’s proposed “30 per cent mandatory value-addition requirement” for Nigerian raw materials before export.
He said the initiative is designed to promote domestic processing, create employment, conserve foreign exchange and increase the contribution of manufacturing to the economy.
The RMRDC boss further listed several institutional initiatives, including the Nigeria Integrated Raw Materials Information System, NISRAN, which he described as a digital repository for information on raw-material deposits, specifications, production output and industrial absorption.
He said the Council had also secured ISO 9001:2015 quality management certification, established the RMRDC Training School, restructured its Journal of Raw Materials Research into an open-access digital publication, and pursued partnerships aimed at commercialising local research and technology.
According to him, ARMS 2026 will focus on five major areas: logistics infrastructure, value-addition policy, circular economy and sustainability, regional value-chain integration, and technology commercialisation and capital linkage.
The summit is expected to feature high-level policy dialogues, interactive sessions, exhibitions of locally developed processing machinery and industrial materials, as well as visits to manufacturing and raw-material processing facilities.
The Africa Raw Materials Industry Awards will also recognise industrialists, researchers and private-sector organisations contributing to raw-material transformation across the continent.
The Director-General called on the media, private sector, financial institutions and technology innovators to support efforts aimed at developing Africa’s manufacturing capacity.
He said the ultimate objective is to ensure that African raw materials increasingly serve African industries, creating greater opportunities for investment, employment and industrial development.
The second Africa Raw Materials Summit will hold in Abuja from October 19 to 20, 2026.
