President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has urged African countries to stop the export of raw materials, saying it’s a critical step if the continent is to break free from poverty and underdevelopment.
Citing figures from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other multilateral bodies, Adesina noted that Africa contributes less than 2% to global manufacturing output.
In a post shared on Thursday via his official X handle, he emphasized the urgent need for Africa to transition from being merely a supplier of unprocessed commodities to a hub for producing 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.
Although Africa is rich in some of the world’s most in-demand raw materials, its share of global trade remains below 3%. However, efforts to shift this narrative have gained traction in recent years. Initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aim to boost intra-African trade, strengthen manufacturing, and promote value addition across industries.
African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has long championed policies focused on agro-industrialisation, energy development, and infrastructure upgrades as the backbone for economic transformation across the continent.
Just last week, Adesina criticised the unequal distribution of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), noting that Africa received only $33 billion—just 4.5% of the $650 billion disbursed globally.
He argued that the current SDR allocation model does not reflect Africa’s pressing financial needs, especially given the continent’s limited fiscal space and its severe economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
To correct this imbalance, Adesina revealed that the AfDB, in collaboration with the African Union, is leading efforts to rechannel unused SDRs from wealthier nations to African economies. Backed by the AfDB’s AAA credit rating, a new framework—co-developed with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)—has now received approval from the IMF Board.
