Tinubu Powerfully Inspires West African Leaders to End ‘Pit-to-Port’ Era at WAES2025

WAES2025. President Bola Tinubu has called on West African nations to end the practice of exporting raw minerals without processing them locally, a trend he described as the “pit-to-port” dependency, urging instead for investment in regional value chains, manufacturing, and innovation.

Speaking on Saturday at the inaugural West Africa Economic Summit (WAES2025) held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, the Nigerian leader stressed the urgency for collective economic transformation across the region.

“Let us also recognise that Africa was left behind in previous industrial revolutions. We cannot afford to miss the next one.  

“Our rare minerals power tomorrow’s green technologies—yet it is not enough to be resource-rich; we must become value-chain smart and invest in local processing and regional manufacturing.  

“The era of pit to port must end. We must turn our mineral wealth into domestic economic value—jobs, technology, and manufacturing,” the President revealed. 

Tinubu demands actionable outcomes from WAES2025 

Tinubu further charged West African leaders to “provide the right environment—law, order, and market-friendly policies—while the private sector drives growth.”

According to him, “Our task is to find new and effective ways to invest in our collective future, improve the business climate, and create opportunities for our youth and women.

“Let us emerge from this summit with actionable outcomes: a renewed commitment to ease of doing business, enhanced intra-regional trade, improved infrastructure connectivity, and innovative ideas that move our people from poverty to prosperity. Let us build a West Africa that is investable, competitive, and resilient—one that leads with vision, responsibility, and unity,” he added. 

Tinubu, who is also the ECOWAS chairman, further highlighted the region’s youthful population as its greatest asset, while cautioning that it could become a liability if not supported through investment in education, digital infrastructure, and enterprise. WAES2025

What you should know 

The WAES2025 is an initiative of President Tinubu.

It precedes the 67th Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS, scheduled to take place on Sunday at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

• It attracted the participation of Presidents from Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia, Benin, Togo, and Guinea-Bissau.
• Also in attendance were ministers of finance, trade, infrastructure, and foreign affairs from ECOWAS Member States, alongside representatives of key regional economic bodies including the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA), West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.

Private sector leaders, development partners, and policy professionals also took part in the summit, which is expected to yield concrete outcomes to fast-track West Africa’s integration agenda, regarded as critical to regional peace, security, and prosperity.