G20 Summit: Nigeria demands equity in global mineral trade, AI governance

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for a global framework that benefits communities hosting critical minerals in Nigeria and Africa, ensuring value addition at the source.

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This is coming just as Nigeria also backed the creation of global ethical standards for Artificial Intelligence (AI), aimed at accelerating development across the world.

President Tinubu made the call at the Third Session of the 2025 Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit, held at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, South Africa, themed “A Fair and Just Future for All: Critical Minerals, Decent Work, Artificial Intelligence.”

The president, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, highlighted that for Nigeria and Africa, critical minerals are more than natural deposits, as they hold the promise of industrial transformation for the continent.

**2025 Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit**

The Nigerian leader stressed that while the possession of resources alone does not guarantee prosperity, relevant authorities and stakeholders must ensure that the extraction and trade of critical minerals are governed by fairness, transparency, and accountability.

President Tinubu emphasised that such responsible extraction and trade are necessary to ensure that the wealth generated from hosting communities translates into shared progress.

He said: “Nigeria calls for a global framework that promotes value addition at the source, supports local beneficiation, and ensures that communities hosting these resources are not left behind.

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The issue before us reaches far beyond the narrow arithmetic of economics and speaks to the moral character of the world we aspire to build.”

The Nigerian leader further stated that as the world advances through green and digital transitions, progress must remain people-centred.

“Decent work is the anchor that makes these transitions fair, inclusive, and sustainable. It is the foundation of development that ensures every person has the opportunity to contribute, thrive, and share in national prosperity,” he added.

President Tinubu disclosed that Nigeria, through the Renewed Hope Agenda, is investing in future-ready skills by empowering Nigerian youths through digital literacy, vocational training, and entrepreneurship.

For a fair and just future, President Tinubu urged G20 leaders to deepen collaboration on technology transfer, capacity building, and inclusive investments that prioritise human dignity over profit alone.

On artificial intelligence, which has immense potential to accelerate development globally, the President said the task before G20 leaders, development partners, and governments is to ensure that AI remains a servant of humanity, not a force that reshapes society at the expense of those it ought to uplift.

According to the Nigerian President: “Nigeria supports the creation of global ethical standards for AI that uphold safety, transparency, and equity,” the President said, adding, “We must ensure that AI becomes a tool of empowerment, not exclusion; of job creation, not displacement.”

To harness AI’s job creation and empowerment potential, the President called for deliberate partnerships between developed and developing nations, between the public and private sectors, and between innovation and inclusion.

“The G20 must therefore address systemic bias and foster sustained multilateral dialogue to ensure that the benefits of AI are shared equitably and its risks responsibly managed,” he added.

The president noted that within a broader vision of shared responsibility and global stewardship, critical minerals, decent work, and artificial intelligence are bound by a single calling, which is to shape an economy that uplifts rather than excludes; an economy that measures its strength not only by growth but by the dignity it affords every human being.

He urged the G20 leaders and partners to build a future where Africa is not merely a supplier of raw materials, but a continent of value creation, innovation, and dignity in work.

Similarly, President Tinubu has asked world leaders to come up with a more equitable and responsive system to manage global financial flows and sincerely address the recurring debt crises in a manner that meets the needs of all nations.

This, he said, had become necessary because many developing countries still grapple with systemic barriers restraining economic growth, as well as weakening trade and limiting financial inclusivity.

The Nigerian leader, who is represented at the global event by his deputy, Vice President Shettima, regretted that the multilateral frameworks, currently being relied on, no longer reflect the complexities of the present world, as the were “built in an era far removed from” the present challenges,

In his statement delivered on his behalf by VP Shettima, the Nigerian President pointed out that this year’s theme of the summit, bordering on “inclusive and sustainable economic growth, trade, financing for development and the debt burden, speaks to the realities of developing nations.”

Demanding a fair deal for Africa and other developing countries of the world, he stated: “For trade to be truly inclusive, the G20 must take bold and deliberate steps towards reforming the international financial architecture and the global institutions that sustain it.

“Only a more equitable and more responsive system can manage global financial flows with fairness, address recurring debt crises with sincerity and meet the needs of all nations, especially those in the Global South who have too often stood at the margins of global opportunity.”

President Tinubu said it would be difficult for Africa to realise a positive paradigm shift “in its development trajectory without a collective resolve of the G20,”

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He noted that the continent cannot rise on the wings of aspiration alone without confronting the persistent regional challenges confronting it, particularly “the urgent need for sustainable financing to ensure the effective implementation of our developmental priorities.”

The Nigerian leader observed that rising debt burdens have continued “to drag economies back into cycles of fragility,” transforming “local difficulties into global vulnerabilities.”

Accordingly, he implored the G20 to place debt sustainability and the responsible utilisation of critical minerals at the heart of its agenda for inclusive development.

“The G20 must, in adopting the Leaders’ Declaration, take with utmost seriousness the responsibility to advance policies that drive sustainable growth, promote financial inclusion and confront emerging risks,” he added.