Asokoro-Ogaji: Africa Must Build Market Power To Match Mineral Wealth

The Executive Director of Women in Mining Africa (WiM-Africa), Dr. Comfort Asokoro-Ogaji, has called on African countries to strengthen their mineral market intelligence, processing capacity and financial systems to enable the continent to exercise greater influence over the pricing of its vast mineral resources.

Asokoro-Ogaji made the call while presenting Africa’s perspective at the Shanghai Metals Expo 2026 during a roundtable discussion titled, “Eastern Pricing 2.0 — Integrating Futures, Physical Markets, Industry and Finance for the Next Stage of Global Metals Pricing.”

She argued that despite Africa’s possession of some of the world’s most strategically important mineral resources, including copper, cobalt, lithium, manganese, platinum-group metals and gold, the continent continues to have limited influence over the systems through which their commercial value is determined.

According to her, possessing abundant mineral resources does not automatically translate into pricing power, particularly when producing countries lack adequate processing infrastructure, reliable market information, financial instruments and access to international trading networks.
“Africa must not remain a passive supplier in an increasingly sophisticated global minerals economy,” she declared.

She explained that the actual value realised by mineral producers goes beyond international price benchmarks, citing factors such as mineral grade, moisture content, payable metal content, treatment and refining charges, impurities, transportation costs and contractual terms.
Using copper concentrate as an example, she noted that African producers could lose substantial economic value when they lack reliable laboratory testing, transparent market information, appropriate financing and access to credible buyers.

To address the challenge, the WiM-Africa executive director identified five critical priorities: strengthening African mineral market intelligence; investing in mineral testing, standardisation and traceability; expanding beneficiation and regional value chains; improving access to commodity markets and trade finance; and ensuring inclusive participation in the mineral economy.

She stressed that African countries must improve coordination among their geological institutions, mining companies, laboratories, regulators and financial institutions to build a more integrated mineral ecosystem.

Asokoro-Ogaji also emphasised the need to move beyond the export of predominantly unprocessed minerals towards developing products that meet higher industrial specifications, noting that regional collaboration would be essential to achieving this objective.

Highlighting the gender dimension of mineral market development, she called for greater opportunities for women-led mining enterprises to access finance, technical expertise, processing technology, market information and legitimate international buyers.

She challenged stakeholders to examine whether women-led mining cooperatives could access reliable assay services, aggregate production to meet industrial standards and participate effectively in responsible and traceable supply chains.
“These are not merely questions of gender representation. They are questions of economic participation, competitiveness and market development,” she said.

The WiM-Africa director further underscored the importance of the organisation’s strategic partnership with Shanghai Metals Market, expressing optimism that it could facilitate practical connections between African women-led enterprises and international market intelligence, industrial networks, research institutions and commercial opportunities.

She called for partnerships between African countries and Chinese companies to extend beyond mineral purchases to include laboratory development, processing technology, professional training, responsible sourcing, investment readiness and direct buyer relationships.

While acknowledging China’s industrial expertise and processing capacity, she said Africa must develop the capabilities to negotiate better terms, participate more directly in international markets and retain a greater share of the economic value generated by its mineral resources.

She maintained that the future of metals pricing should not be viewed merely as competition between established Western benchmarks and emerging Eastern pricing centres, but as an opportunity to create more transparent, internationally connected and inclusive mineral markets.
“Africa has mineral power. It is time we built the market power to match it,” she declared.