Asiedu Nketia Urges Africa: Stop Exporting Raw Materials, Build Industries That Create Real Power
National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has urged African countries to break away from their historic dependence on exporting raw materials, insisting the continent must build industries that convert its natural resources into technology, innovation and higher economic value.
Speaking at the Third Meeting of the Standing Committee of the International Movement for the Freedom of Nations in Russia on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, he said Africa’s vast reserves of critical minerals should form the backbone of industrialisation — not serve as fuel for the economic advancement of other nations.
“The 21st century must not become another chapter in which Africa supplies strategic resources while others capture the greater share of the value they create,” he said. “The continent must become an active participant in the industries, technologies and value chains that will define the future.”
Mr. Asiedu Nketia argued that renewed global competition for critical minerals presents Africa with a rare opportunity to reshape its economic destiny. He stressed that Africa’s strategic resources should no longer merely support the ambitions of industrialised nations but instead drive domestic manufacturing, technological innovation and sustainable transformation.
“My position remains firm: the 21st century must not become another chapter of raw material extraction. True power will come only when we possess the industrial capability to transform our resources into home‑grown technology, knowledge and value,” he said.
He added that the real question confronting Africa is not whether the world is interested in its resources — but whether African nations will participate in the emerging global economy as equal partners.
“The question before Africa is not whether the world is interested in our resources. Every nation pursues its interests. The real question is whether Africa will participate in this new era of global competition as an equal partner or merely as a supplier of inputs for the ambitions of others.”
Mr. Asiedu Nketia further argued that political independence alone cannot guarantee prosperity. African countries, he said, must strengthen their industrial capacity and economic institutions to translate sovereignty into meaningful development.
“The unfinished task before us is to ensure that sovereignty is matched by capability and that freedom is matched by common prosperity.”