Folalumi Alaran in Abuja
Women in Mining Africa (WiM-Africa) has known as for stronger African participation in world minerals pricing, saying the continent should transfer past being a provider of uncooked supplies to creating the market intelligence, processing capability and monetary programs wanted to affect the worth of its mineral assets.
The Executive Director of WiM-Africa, Dr Comfort Asokoro-Ogaji, made the decision whereas talking at a roundtable on ‘Eastern Pricing 2.0: Integrating Futures, Physical Markets, Industry and Finance for the Next Stage of Global Metals Pricing,’ on the Shanghai Metals Expo 2026.
Asokoro-Ogaji mentioned regardless of Africa’s possession of a number of the world’s most strategic mineral assets, together with copper, cobalt, lithium, manganese, platinum-group metals and gold, the continent continued to have restricted affect over the programs by which their business worth was decided.
She mentioned the possession of mineral assets didn’t robotically translate into market affect, noting that producing international locations might stay deprived by insufficient entry to market info, processing capability, monetary devices and worldwide business networks.
According to her, the growth of Asian markets, significantly in metals buying and selling, processing, financing and value discovery, presents a possibility for African resource-producing international locations to strengthen their participation in world minerals markets.
“Africa must not remain a passive supplier in an increasingly sophisticated global minerals economy,” she mentioned.
She, nonetheless, cautioned that pricing energy couldn’t be achieved by declarations alone, stressing the necessity for African producers to enhance product high quality, scale back info gaps and strengthen their bargaining positions in worldwide markets.
Using copper focus for example, she defined that the precise worth realised by producers depended not solely on worldwide benchmarks but in addition on mineral grades, moisture content material, payable steel, therapy and refining fees, impurities, transportation prices and contractual phrases.
She mentioned insufficient laboratory testing, unreliable market info, restricted financing and weak entry to credible consumers might stop African producers from securing the complete business worth of their assets.
To deal with these challenges, the WiM-Africa government director recognized 5 priorities, together with stronger mineral market intelligence, funding in mineral testing and standardisation, growth of beneficiation and processing, improved entry to commodity markets and finance, and inclusive participation in the mining worth chain.
She harassed that African producers wanted entry to credible and well timed info on mineral manufacturing, grades, costs, consumers, processing capability and buying and selling circumstances to barter extra successfully.
On beneficiation, Asokoro-Ogaji known as for a gradual transition from the export of largely unprocessed minerals to supplying merchandise that meet increased industrial specs.
She famous that regional collaboration could be vital to attain this, including that not each mineral wanted to be processed in each producing nation.
The WiM-Africa chief additionally emphasised the significance of commerce finance, working capital, safe cost programs, risk-management devices and credible offtake agreements in strengthening African producers’ participation in worldwide markets.
Addressing gender inclusion, she mentioned girls concerned in mining, mineral buying and selling, processing, cooperatives and mining-related companies throughout Africa continued to face obstacles to finance, tools, technical experience, market info and formal provide chains.
She argued that girls should take part in worth creation past mineral extraction, insisting that their inclusion in rising pricing and buying and selling programs was important to constructing aggressive and sustainable mineral markets.
“These are not merely questions of gender representation. They are questions of economic participation, competitiveness and market development,” she mentioned.
Asokoro-Ogaji additionally highlighted WiM-Africa’s strategic partnership with Shanghai Metals Market, saying the organisation was searching for to create sensible connections between African women-led enterprises and the applied sciences, market intelligence, industrial networks and business alternatives required to broaden their companies.
She known as for deeper cooperation between African resource-producing international locations and China’s industrial, monetary and buying and selling programs, urging partnerships that might lengthen past mineral purchases to incorporate laboratory improvement, processing know-how, skilled coaching, accountable sourcing, funding readiness and direct relationships with consumers.
According to her, Chinese corporations possess important industrial experience, processing capability and entry to main metals markets, whereas African international locations provide mineral assets, rising industrial markets and funding alternatives.
She maintained that Africa was not searching for to switch established worldwide benchmarks with arbitrary nationwide costs however to construct the capability to grasp these benchmarks, negotiate higher phrases and retain a larger share of the financial worth generated by its assets.
“The future of metals pricing should not be viewed solely as a contest between established Western benchmarks and emerging Eastern pricing centres. It should also be an opportunity to build more transparent, internationally connected and inclusive mineral markets,” she mentioned.
She added that Africa wanted to strengthen its establishments, processing industries, market intelligence and monetary capabilities to translate its mineral wealth into industrial improvement and lasting financial alternatives.
“Africa has mineral power. It is time we built the market power to match it,” she mentioned.
