ABUJA (SUNA) – Minister of Minerals Nour Al-Daem Taha on Tuesday called for unified African efforts to maximise the added value of mineral resources and transform the continent’s wealth into productive industries and job opportunities that support national economies and achieve shared development. He made the remarks while addressing the Second African Raw Materials Summit in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, where he headed Sudan’s participating delegation. The summit was held under the theme “From African Raw Materials to African Factories.” The minister stressed the importance of moving from raw material exports to local manufacturing and developing processing industries through effective economic partnerships, the provision of energy, infrastructure and transport, and the adoption of investment-friendly policies that would strengthen intra-African trade. Taha called for the development of financing mechanisms to support projects backed by documented and proven mineral reserves assessed in accordance with international standards. He underscored the importance of cooperation among African banks and financing institutions, mobilising capital and expanding private-sector participation in financing mining projects.  He explained that Sudan’s participation in the summit represented an important opportunity to showcase promising investment projects and attract partnerships in financing, technology transfer and training. Taha also highlighted the importance of harnessing mineral resources for reconstruction and for providing building materials and agricultural and industrial production inputs to support economic recovery.BH/BH