President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has called on African nations to put an end to the export of raw materials if the continent is to overcome poverty and underdevelopment.
In a post shared on Thursday via his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, Adesina stressed the urgent need for Africa to shift from being a supplier of unprocessed commodities to a producer of value-added goods.
“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,” he wrote.
The bigger picture
According to data from the Office of US Trade Representative and other multilateral institutions, Africa accounts for less than 2% of global manufacturing.
- Meanwhile, its share of global trade remains under 3%. Despite being home to some of the world’s most sought-after raw materials, the continent captures minimal value from its natural wealth.
- Efforts to change this narrative have gained momentum in recent years. Initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) are designed to enhance intra-African trade, boost manufacturing, and encourage value addition across sectors.
Adesina has consistently advocated for policies that promote agro-industrialisation, energy expansion, and improved infrastructure as a foundation for transforming Africa’s economies.
Adesina condemns disproportionate IMF SDR to Africa
Last week, Adesina criticised the disproportionate allocation of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), revealing that Africa received just $33 billion, only 4.5% of the $650 billion issued globally.
The AfDB president stressed that the distribution model of the SDRs failed to reflect the urgent financial needs of Africa, which bore some of the deepest economic scars from the pandemic, with limited fiscal capacity to implement a robust recovery plan.
To address this imbalance, Adesina disclosed that the AfDB, in partnership with the African Union, spearheaded efforts to rechannel unused SDRs from wealthier nations to African economies. Leveraging the AfDB’s AAA credit rating, a new framework co-developed with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has now been approved by the IMF Board.
Why this matters
Africa is endowed with vast natural resources ranging from crude oil, gold, and cobalt to agricultural commodities like cocoa, coffee, and cotton. However, these resources are largely exported in raw form to industrialized nations where they are processed into finished products. The finished products are then re-imported into Africa at significantly higher prices.
This trend has historically resulted in limited value capture within the continent, reduced employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector, and weak industrial growth.
Adesina’s remarks echo a long-standing argument among economists and development practitioners that Africa must industrialize and strengthen its value chains if it hopes to achieve sustainable economic growth and improve the standard of living for its people.
