Create African markets for its critical minerals, says WTO chief

AFRICAN leaders should establish markets to create value for the 30% of the world’s entire mineral reserves found on the continent to realise the objectives of G20 Critical Minerals Framework (CMF), says World Trade Organisation (WTO) head Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

- SIYABONGA SITHOLE and KUBEN CHETTY

“How we position ourselves as Africa depends on us and our policymakers. If we continue to export 60% of our commodities and raw minerals, then things will not change,” Okonjo-Iweala told journalists on the sidelines of the last day of the G20 Leaders' Summit yesterday.

In its 2025 summit declaration, on Saturday, the G20 leaders called for the establishment of the G20 CMF, aimed at leveraging critical minerals as a catalyst for sustainable development, inclusive economic growth, and resilience.

The framework seeks to ensure that mineral-producing countries, especially those from the Global South, derive maximum benefit from their raw minerals.

G20 leaders reflected on this framework yesterday, which culminated in an extensive report on the practical ways in which Africans can take advantage of to power their economies for an equitable economic transformation.