President Bola Tinubu has issued a strong call for unity among West African nations, warning that disjointed efforts will doom the region’s chances of global economic relevance.
Speaking in Abuja on Saturday at the inaugural West Africa Economic Summit (WAES), Tinubu stressed that collaboration—not isolation—will unlock the region’s economic potential.
“No one country can do this alone,” Tinubu said. “Our prosperity depends on regional supply chains, energy networks, and data frameworks. We must design them together—or they will collapse separately.”
With intra-regional trade still languishing below 10%, the president criticised the persistent trade barriers choking economic growth across the subregion. He warned that if West Africa doesn’t act fast, it could miss yet another industrial revolution.
“Africa was left behind in previous industrial revolutions. We cannot afford to miss the next one,” he declared.
Tinubu urged leaders to capitalise on the region’s youthful population and natural resources through coordinated investment in education, digital infrastructure, innovation, and manufacturing.
“Our rare minerals power tomorrow’s green technologies. But being resource-rich is not enough; we must become value-chain smart,” he said.
He called for an end to the outdated “pit to port” model, where raw materials are exported without processing. Instead, he championed a shift to domestic value creation—through jobs, technology, and regional manufacturing hubs.
“The demographic promise can quickly become a liability if we don’t invest in the right sectors,” Tinubu warned, as he urged leaders to commit to “clear deliverables with actionable outcomes.”
