Abuja:UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced a new Country Support Mechanism aimed at helping Nigeria and other resource-rich developing nations leverage their mineral wealth to create jobs and prosperity. This initiative focuses on building sustainable and resilient mineral value chains, ensuring that the benefits of these resources reach the people and countries at the source.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the first nations to receive support through this mechanism are Nigeria, Guinea, Indonesia, Madagascar, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The initiative seeks to ensure that countries possessing critical minerals essential for energy transition are the first to benefit from them. These minerals, including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements, are crucial for manufacturing clean energy technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles.
Guterres highlighted the increasing demand for these minerals, which is expected to nearly triple by 2030 as the world shifts from fossil fuels to renewable energy. This rising demand presents developing countries with an opportunity to diversify their economies and enhance industrial development. However, Guterres cautioned that without proper governance and management, mineral extraction could lead to continued reliance on commodities and exacerbate geopolitical tensions.
The United Nations has been working to strengthen international collaboration on critical minerals, focusing on equity, transparency, investment, sustainability, and human rights. The Country Support Mechanism, led by the UN Development Programme and the UN Development Coordination Office, will provide technical and capacity-building assistance to ensure these countries gain lasting benefits from their resources.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Prof. Amon Murwira, and Zambia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mulambo Haimbe, both expressed support for the initiative, emphasizing the importance of value addition and participation in global value chains.
The UN aims to help countries transform their economies by providing expertise through the Country Support Mechanism, with contributions from the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. This initiative is part of the UN Task Force on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, which seeks to advance sustainable development and a fair clean energy transition.