By mmedia360impact
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has called for a major shift in Africa’s approach to natural resources, urging countries across the continent to process more of their raw materials locally instead of exporting them in largely unprocessed form.
The Council said Africa’s biggest industrial opportunity may lie not in discovering more resources, but in building the capacity to transform the resources it already has into higher-value products.
The position is expected to feature prominently at the second edition of the African Raw Materials Summit (ARMS) 2026, scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
The summit has the theme, “From African Feedstock to African Factory.”
According to the official programme, the summit will focus on processing African agricultural and mineral raw materials within the continent, strengthening regional value chains and improving manufacturing competitiveness.
Speaking ahead of the summit, RMRDC Director-General, Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, said Africa must move beyond the traditional model of exporting low-value primary commodities and begin producing and exporting higher-value industrial goods.
He said achieving this transformation would require coordinated action in areas including logistics, policy, sustainability, regional integration and capital-backed innovation.
Ike-Muonso also highlighted the need for a circular industrial economy, where agricultural waste, mine tailings, scrap metals and biomass can be recovered and converted into useful feedstock for other production processes.
According to him, such an approach could help reduce waste and raw-material costs while supporting more sustainable and climate-resilient manufacturing across the continent.
The RMRDC Director-General also identified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as an important platform for developing stronger regional value chains.
He said African countries should leverage their different resources and industrial capabilities to produce goods within the continent rather than operating mainly as separate markets.
The official ARMS programme also places emphasis on cross-border logistics, supply chains, quality standards, backward integration and regional value chains.
The summit’s Head of Secretariat, Rachael Kotso, and Director, Directorate of Corporate Affairs, Chinyere Nnamdi-Anum, are also involved in driving awareness and preparations for the continental platform.
Organisers say ARMS 2026 will bring together policymakers, industry leaders, academics, researchers, manufacturers and entrepreneurs to examine practical ways of increasing the value Africa retains from its natural resources.
For the RMRDC, the conversation is shifting from how much Africa can extract to how much economic value it can retain by processing its resources before they leave the continent.
The summit is therefore being positioned as a platform for developing practical partnerships among governments, investors, researchers and manufacturers to strengthen Africa’s industrial and manufacturing capacity.
Credit: Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) / African Raw Materials Summit (ARMS) 2026.
