JB condemns Africa’s mineral wealth exploitation

Former president Joyce Banda has challenged African leaders to strengthen laws governing the exploitation of the continent’s mineral wealth, warning that resource-poor countries cannot continue to endure widespread poverty while their natural resources generate wealth for others.

Speaking on Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa, after receiving the Broad Pool of Ideas (BPI) Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Banda called for stronger legal frameworks to regulate mineral exploitation and deeper African integration to ensure that natural resources benefit citizens.

She said Africa loses more than $150 billion annually through illicit financial flows, arguing that the loss undermines development efforts despite the continent’s vast mineral wealth.

“African leaders must get serious about integration before the process is hijacked by those who want to take advantage of our resources,” she said.

Banda cited oil in Uganda and Namibia, gold in Tanzania, lithium in Zimbabwe and rutile in Malawi, alongside uranium and rare earth minerals, as resources whose exploitation should translate into improved livelihoods for African citizens.

She said the continent’s resource wealth contrasted sharply with the poverty and deprivation experienced by millions of its people.

“It is unacceptable that 100 million of our girls are not in school. It is unacceptable that half of our population lives in abject poverty, on less than two dollars a day,” she said.

Banda linked competition over natural resources to conflict and instability in parts of Africa, urging leaders to pursue policies that promote inclusive development and ensure that resource wealth reaches ordinary citizens.

She also called for increased investment in agriculture, irrigation and modern technologies to strengthen food security. She urged African countries with food surpluses to establish better trade arrangements to supply those facing shortages.

JB receives her award from 2025 co-recepient Dr Reuel

Khoza. | JB’s press office

Banda said Africa should harness its agricultural potential to accelerate industrialisation, mechanisation and digitalisation, while strengthening the role of the African Continental Free Trade Area in expanding trade among member states.

On social development, she called for greater investment in education and healthcare, arguing that economic growth would remain elusive if citizens lacked access to essential services.

“No economy can grow when its people are not healthy,” she said, citing reports of hospitals in Malawi and other African countries operating without essential medicines.

Banda further urged governments to create jobs and expand opportunities for young people in agriculture, trade, commerce and industry, warning that a lack of economic prospects could fuel conflict.

She also called for greater participation of women across all sectors, saying Africa could achieve more by ensuring that women and young people were not excluded from development.

“The best way to achieve more is to ensure that no one is left behind, including women and youth,” she said.

Banda, who served as Malawi’s president from 2012 to 2014, accepted the award with humility, saying it represented not merely a personal achievement but recognition of the people of Malawi and the African women who had contributed to her journey.

Announcing the award, BPI Foundation executive director Nkosana Thobela praised Banda’s lifelong commitment to democracy, gender equity, poverty reduction, education and social justice.

“The Lifetime Achievement Award recognises leaders whose contributions have advanced their professions and humanity, and former president Banda fits that bill,” Thobela said.

Former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano received the same honour in 2025.

Banda was Malawi’s first female president. Before assuming the presidency, she served as vice-president, foreign minister and minister responsible for gender and child welfare.

In 1997, she established the Joyce Banda Foundation, which supports education, women’s economic empowerment, maternal health and other community development initiatives.

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