Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has called for an end to the export of raw materials from the continent, describing it as a major contributor to poverty in Africa.
In a statement shared on his official X page on Thursday, April 17, Adesina said, “Africa must end the exports of its raw materials. The export of raw materials is the door to poverty. The export of value-added products is the highway to wealth. And Africa is tired of being poor.”
His comments come amid increasing advocacy for structural economic reforms across the continent, especially following the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which aims to boost intra-African trade and industrialization.
Adesina, a prominent development economist, has consistently pushed for the creation of competitive industrial value chains in Africa to reduce dependency on imports and to create sustainable jobs. Earlier this month, he reiterated this position during the launch of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) in Calabar, Nigeria.
At the event, the AfDB president said Nigeria blessed with vast arable land, low-cost labour, and a diverse agricultural landscape, should be a major food exporter rather than a net importer. He said the successful implementation of SAPZ projects would help drive food security and economic development across the country.
In a related development, Nigeria recently waived taxes on 90 percent of goods traded within Africa, following the official gazetting and transmission of its ECOWAS tariff schedule to the AfCFTA secretariat. The move aligns with the broader objective of reducing trade barriers and enhancing regional integration.
However, Nigerian authorities have urged African trade ministers to intensify efforts in addressing non-tariff barriers, which continue to pose challenges to the full realization of the AfCFTA’s goals.