President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on world leaders at the 2025 G20 Summit to support a new global system that ensures African nations benefit equitably from their critical mineral resources and are not left behind in the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence (AI) landscape.
Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, President Tinubu delivered the message on Saturday during the Third Session of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The session, themed “A Fair and Just Future for All: Critical Minerals, Decent Work, Artificial Intelligence,” focused on achieving global fairness in technological, labour, and resource transitions.
Tinubu declared that African countries are no longer willing to be relegated to the role of raw material suppliers while wealth flows offshore. He urged the G20 to adopt a framework that promotes value addition within resource-rich nations.
“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,” he said. “Africa must not merely remain a supplier of raw materials.”
The President argued that responsible extraction, transparent trade, and fair market practices are essential for ensuring that mineral-rich communities benefit from the global shift toward green and digital economies.
On the issue of labour and economic development, Tinubu stressed that Africa’s growth must be centred on people, with “decent work” as the foundation of sustainable socio-economic transformation. He highlighted Nigeria’s investments under the Renewed Hope Agenda in digital literacy, vocational training, and entrepreneurship to equip youths with future-ready skills.
Turning to artificial intelligence, Tinubu warned that AI could worsen global inequality if left unchecked. He called for unified international standards to guide its development.
“Nigeria supports the creation of global ethical standards for AI that uphold safety, transparency, and equity,” he said. “AI must be a tool of empowerment, not exclusion; of job creation, not displacement.”
Tinubu urged developed nations to partner with Africa to ensure equitable access to AI technologies, adding that the G20 must tackle systemic bias and guarantee shared benefits.
In a separate intervention, the President called on the G20 to reform the international financial architecture, which he described as outdated and unresponsive to the needs of developing nations grappling with rising debt. He argued that many current frameworks were designed for a different era and now fail to reflect today’s economic realities.
“Only a more equitable and more responsive system can manage global financial flows with fairness,” Tinubu said, warning that unsustainable debts continue to drag African economies into cycles of fragility.
He urged G20 leaders to prioritise debt sustainability, fair resource utilisation, and inclusive growth in the Leaders’ Declaration, stressing that Africa cannot advance on “aspiration alone” without access to sustainable financing.
The 2025 G20 Summit continues in Johannesburg with further deliberations on global equity, technology governance, and sustainable development.