Photo File: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the inaugural West Africa Economic Summit (WAES)

President Bola Tinubu has called on West African nations to end the practice of exporting raw minerals without processing them locally — a trend he described as the “pit-to-port” dependency — urging instead for investment in regional value chains, manufacturing, and innovation.

Speaking on Saturday at the inaugural West Africa Economic Summit (WAES) held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, President Tinubu stressed the urgency for collective economic transformation across the region.

“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.

The summit, an initiative of President Tinubu in his capacity as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, precedes the 67th Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS, scheduled to be held on Sunday at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

The WAES aims to deepen regional economic integration and enhance trade and investment cooperation across the sub region.

In his keynote address, President Tinubu warned that intraregional trade within West Africa remains under 10 per cent, which he attributed not to a lack of political will but to poor coordination.

“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.

The ECOWAS Chairman further highlighted the region’s youthful population as its greatest asset, while cautioning 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 said.

President Tinubu also emphasised the need for Africa not to miss the opportunities presented by the next wave of industrial revolutions.

“Europe left Africa behind in previous industrial revolutions. We cannot afford to be left behind again. Rare minerals power tomorrow’s technologies, but that alone is not enough. We must unleash our people’s entrepreneurial spirit, supported by market-friendly policies and the rule of law,” he warned.

He concluded by calling for “actionable steps” to drive development in the region.

“Let us build a West Africa that is investible, competitive, and resilient — one that leads with vision. We must ease doing business, enhance trade, improve infrastructure connectivity, and develop innovative ideas that move our people from poverty to prosperity,” he said.

The summit attracted the participation of 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.