West Africa must transform demographic force, mineral wealth into jobs, industry – Tinubu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Saturday urged the leaders of West Africa to exploit the youth population of the region and abundant natural resources for economic transformation through industrialization, education and innovation.

By providing the opening address at the economic summit of West Africa (WES) inaugural in Abuja, President Tinubu described the vibrant and young population in the region as his greatest resource.

“However, this demographic promise can quickly become a responsibility if not combined with investments in education, digital infrastructures, innovation and production company,” he warned.

The president underlined the need for regional cooperation, citing Nigeria’s investments in the development of skills, digital connectivity and in the empowerment of young people.

“No country can do it alone. Our prosperity depends on regional supply chains, energy networks and data paintings. We have to design them together or will collapse separately,” he said.

President Tinubu asked for urgent efforts to dismantle commercial barriers through the sober.

He expressed concern about the fact that with intra-regional trade still below 10 %, West Africa must “coordinate or collapse” in the race to global economic relevance.

On infrastructures and investments, the Nigerian leader urged West Africa to go beyond the export of raw materials and give priority to value -added industries.

“We recognize that Africa has been left behind in previous industrial revolutions. We cannot allow ourselves to lose their neighbor.

“Our rare minerals by Minerals Power Tomorrow Tomorrow, but being resources: they are not enough; we must also become intelligent value of value and invest in local processing and regional production.

“The era of” pit to port “must end. We must transform our mineral wealth into internal economic value: Job, technology and production,” he said.

The Nigerian leader, who presides over the Ecowas authority of the heads of state and the government, underlined the role of the private sector in the transformation of the guide.

“The fundamental transformation will not be exclusively from the government, but from freeing the entrepreneurial spirit of our people. Governments must provide the right environment-leggi, order and policies suitable for the market-hentus the private sector guides growth,” he said.

By asking the regional leaders to commit themselves to freeing the results, President Tinubu said: “Our task is to find new and effective ways to invest in our collective future, improve the corporate climate and create opportunities for our young people and women.

“We emerge from this summit with usable results: a renewed commitment to facilitate the activity, the improvement of intra-regional trade, the improvement of infrastructure connectivity and the innovative ideas that move our people from poverty to prosperity,” he said.

He charged the participants in the summit – state head, politicians, corporate leaders and development partners – with a construction of an investable, competitive and resilient western African, guiding with vision, responsibility and unity.