- Safiu Kehinde
President Bola Tinubu has charged West African leaders to end the practice of exporting raw minerals without processing them locally in what he described as the “pit-to-port” dependency.
The President called for investment in regional manufacturing and innovation, stressing the need for collective economic transformation across the region.
Tinubu gave the charge while speaking on Saturday at the inaugural West Africa Economic Summit (WAES) held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.
He maintained that West Africa must go beyond being resource-rich to becoming regional value chain.
“The era of warm pit to the port must end. We must turn our mineral wealth into domestic economic value, jobs, technology, and manufacturing.
“To be resource-rich is not enough — we must become value chain smart and invest in local processing and regional manufacturing,” Tinubu said.
According to report, the summit is an initiative of President Tinubu in his capacity as Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government.
It preceded the 67th Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS, scheduled to be held on Sunday at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
In his keynote address at the summit which aimed to deepen regional economic integration and enhance trade and investment cooperation across the subregion, Tinubu decried the poor coordination of intraregional trade within West Africa which according to him is below 10 per cent.
He reiterated his call for a stronger regional value chain and investment in infrastructure.
“Opportunity alone does not guarantee transformation. The global economy will not wait for West Africa to get its hands together — nor should we.
“Rather than competing in isolation or relying on external partners, we must strengthen our regional value chain, invest in infrastructure, and coordinate our policies,” he stated.
Tinubu further highlighted the region’s youthful population as its greatest asset, while warning that it could become a liability if not supported through investment in education, digital infrastructure, and enterprise.
“Our prosperity depends on regional supply chains, energy networks, and data frameworks. We must design them together, or they will collapse separately.
“From the Lagos to Abidjan highway and the West African Power Pool to creative industry initiatives, our joint projects show what’s possible when we work together. But we must move from declarations to concrete deals — from policy frameworks to practical implementation,” Tinubu added.
Notable dignitaries present at the summit include Presidents from Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia, Benin, Togo, and Guinea-Bissau.
Also in attendance were ministers of finance, trade, infrastructure, and foreign affairs from ECOWAS Member States, alongside representatives of key regional economic bodies including the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA), West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.
Private sector leaders, development partners, and policy experts also participated in the summit, which is expected to yield concrete outcomes to fast-track West Africa’s integration agenda, regarded as critical to regional peace, security, and prosperity.
President Tinubu also extended invitations to Member States of the Alliance of Sahelian States and Mauritania to participate in the summit.