Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — President Bola Tinubu has called for a fundamental shift in West Africa’s economic model, from raw material exports to value-added industrialization, warning that failure to act now could leave the region behind in the global race for economic relevance.
Speaking recently at the West Africa Economic Summit, WAES, President Tinubu urged regional leaders to invest in innovation, education, and local processing to transform the region’s vast natural resources into sustainable economic value.
“Let us recognise that Africa was left behind in previous industrial revolutions. We cannot afford to miss the next one. The era of ‘pit to port’ must end. We must turn our mineral wealth into domestic economic value, jobs, technology, and manufacturing.”
The President identified West Africa’s youthful population and rare mineral resources as powerful assets, but warned they risk becoming liabilities without bold investment in infrastructure, human capital, and regional collaboration.
“Our rare minerals power tomorrow’s green technologies, yet being resource-rich is not enough; we must also become value-chain smart and invest in local processing and regional manufacturing,” he said.
Tinubu, who chairs the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, decried the region’s low intra-African trade volume, still under 10%, and emphasized the urgent need to dismantle trade barriers.
“We must coordinate or collapse. No one country can do this alone. Our prosperity depends on regional supply chains, energy networks, and data frameworks. We must design them together, or they will collapse separately.”
He called for a new regional push to improve the ease of doing business, unlock private-sector investment, and deliver concrete results from the summit.
“The fundamental transformation will not come solely from government, but from unleashing our people’s entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.
“Governments must provide the right environment, law, order, and market-friendly policies, while the private sector drives growth.”
Highlighting Nigeria’s own investments in youth skills, digital infrastructure, and enterprise, Tinubu stressed that economic transformation must be inclusive and future-facing.
“Our task is to find new and effective ways to invest in our collective future, improve the business climate, and create opportunities for our youth and women,” he told summit participants.
“Let us emerge from this summit with actionable outcomes: a renewed commitment to ease of doing business, enhanced intra-regional trade, improved infrastructure connectivity, and innovative ideas that move our people from poverty to prosperity.”
The West Africa Economic Summit convened heads of state, policymakers, business leaders, and development partners to chart a regional economic strategy centered on competitiveness, resilience, and inclusive growth.
