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Nigeria’s train rumbles into Cairo for Bafana Bafana

Published

7 years ago

July 8, 2019

Three –time champions Nigeria have arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo ahead of Wednesday’s potentially –explosive AFCON 2019 quarter final clash with 1996 champions South Africa at the Cairo International Stadium.

Conquerors of Cup holders Cameroon in the Round of 16 in a game played in Alexandria on Saturday, the Super Eagles have taken abode at the posh Meridien Heliopolis in one of the largest cities on the African continent.

On Sunday, following the decimation of the Indomitable Lions, the Eagles had a recovery training and then generally retired to their Helnan Palestine Hotel in Alexandria to relax for the day.

Coach Gernot Rohr has said his charges are very much looking forward to Wednesday night’s clash, which brings together once more two teams who were involved in the same group in the qualifying campaign.

First encounter was at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on 10^th June 2017, with the Bafana Bafana inflicting a painful 2-0 defeat on a half –strength Nigeria side. In the return in Johannesburg on 17^th November 2018, the Eagles dominated and were denied two apparent goals by the referee in a 1-1 draw, which ultimately earned them a berth in the AFCON 2019 with a match to spare.

Rohr is not one to forget sharp pains inflicted by lower –ranked teams, and the fury of what happened in Uyo on 10^th June 2017 – his first loss as Eagles’ manager in a competitive match – could be deduced in the way he spoke on arrival in Cairo, though he insisted that Nigeria is not thinking of revenge but simply a place in the semi finals.

“We are here to win. It is not going to be an easy match, but surely if you have to win the Africa Cup, you will not expect to be faced with easy matches at this stage. We know ourselves from the qualifying campaign and it will be no holds –barred on Wednesday. It is not a matter of revenge; it is about reaching the semi finals.”

Nigeria’s army includes three members of the squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa in 2013, namely defender Kenneth Omeruo, midfielder and skipper Mikel John Obi and forward and deputy skipper Ahmed Musa. They trained at the Shams Club on Monday evening.

There is also forward Odion Jude Ighalo, who topped the scorers’ chart in the AFCON 2019 qualifying race with seven goals and is joint top scorer in the ongoing finals with three goals, alongside Senegalese Sadio Mane. Indeed, Ighalo’s man-of-the-match performance was the tonic the Eagles needed to overcome the Cup holders on Saturday.

There is also goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi, who turns out for South African Premier Soccer League side Kaizer Chiefs. He has not had many opportunities with the senior team but is number one at the ongoing finals.

After winning their second AFCON title in Tunisia in 1994, Nigeria failed to turn up to defend their title in South Africa two years later, stopped on the orders of military dictator Sani Abacha. South Africa won the championship, but Nigeria insisted the Bafana Bafana were no authentic champions having not faced the firepower of the Super Eagles.

Barred from the 1998 finals as a result of their boycott of the 1996 competition, Nigeria returned in 2000 as co-host, and in the semi finals, Tijani Babangida scooped two quick goals to douse tension and condemned the Bafana to the third place match as the Eagles marched into the Final.

Four years later, in Tunisia, it was an incensed Eagles that confronted Bafana in their second match of the group phase, as Morocco had stolen Nigeria’s thunder in their first game. The result was a 4-0 spanking, including a brace by Osaze Odemwingie.

When Nigeria won its third African title in South Africa six years ago, the paths of both teams did not cross.

However, it is a new day and a different stage at the Cairo International on Wednesday night, as Bafana have quiet confidence and steel from their stunning elimination of host nation and seven –time AFCON champions Egypt on Saturday night.

“It is a big match, no doubt. But we know what we have to do and we will do just that. Beating the defending champions has given us the confidence that we can all the way here,” said skipper Mikel Obi, who has announced that this would be his last AFCON expedition.

Indeed, Saturday’s feat was the sixth time in history that Nigeria would be ejecting the Cup holders from the Africa Cup of Nations, and each time they did, they had gone ahead to finish on the podium – either as champions, runners –up or bronze medal winners.

In 1976 when they beat Cup holders Zaire (now DR Congo) in Ethiopia, Nigeria won bronze. In 1984, after beating Ghana in Cote d’Ivoire, they finished with the silver medals, and in 1994, they emerged champions after eliminating Cote d’Ivoire in the semi finals in Tunisia.

In 2004, the Eagles picked up the bronze medals after a sweet defeat of Cameroon in the quarter finals in Tunisia, and two years later, were again worth the bronze medals after penalty shoot out defeat of Tunisia in the quarter finals in Egypt

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Business

Turning Africa’s Raw Materials Into Wealth: The ARMS 2026 Industrial Agenda

Published

2 days ago

September 29, 2026

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

For decades, Africa’s vast natural resources have powered industries and economies far beyond the continent, while many African countries have remained largely exporters of unprocessed commodities and importers of finished products.

That familiar pattern is now coming under renewed scrutiny as policymakers, researchers, investors and industrialists seek to change the direction of Africa’s resource economy.

At the centre of that conversation is the second edition of the Africa Raw Materials Summit (ARMS 2026), scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja, under the theme: “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

Organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the summit is being positioned as more than another gathering of policymakers and industry stakeholders. It is intended to provide a platform for confronting the structural challenges that have kept African raw materials largely disconnected from local manufacturing.

Africa has for years operated largely within a “pit-to-port” economic model, exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the summit on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, said the event would bring together policymakers, investors, researchers, technology providers and industrialists to develop practical strategies for transforming Africa’s abundant natural resources into industrial wealth.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply the abundance of resources, but the continent’s ability to transform those resources into industrial value, employment, technology and wealth within Africa.

Nigeria alone, according to the RMRDC, has more than $582.4 billion in documented non-renewable natural resources, while the wider continent possesses substantial deposits of critical minerals, agricultural raw materials and industrial feedstock.

Yet, the benefits of this resource endowment have often been constrained by inadequate processing capacity, weak infrastructure, limited technology, financing gaps and fragmented regional value chains.

From Dialogue to Industrial Action

ARMS 2026 builds on the maiden edition held in May 2025, which attracted more than 1,000 delegates from across the world.

The inaugural summit also witnessed the unveiling of the Ten-Year Raw Materials Transformation Roadmap (2025–2034) by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owen Enoh.

The roadmap was designed around areas including technological capability, climate-resilient processing and backward integration, establishing a policy framework for greater domestic utilisation of Africa’s raw materials.

The second edition is expected to move the conversation further by bringing policy, capital, technology and industrial stakeholders around practical mechanisms for turning raw materials into locally manufactured products.

One of the major proposals highlighted by the RMRDC is the 30 per cent Mandatory Value Addition Bill, which seeks to establish a statutory minimum level of value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export.

The Council says the proposed framework could support job creation, import substitution, foreign-exchange conservation and increased manufacturing contribution to the economy.

Building the Infrastructure for Value Addition

The industrial transformation envisaged by ARMS 2026 goes beyond legislation.

A major concern is the “missing middle” between where raw materials are produced and where factories are located.

Poor transportation networks, inadequate cold-chain facilities, weak rural roads, limited testing and certification infrastructure and border-related delays can make locally sourced materials more expensive and less competitive.

Consequently, logistics and infrastructure constitute one of the five principal pillars of the summit.

The objective is to develop more reliable corridors connecting farms and mines with processing centres and manufacturing facilities, thereby reducing losses and improving the movement of industrial inputs.

The Digital Dimension

Technology is also becoming an important part of the Council’s strategy.

The RMRDC says it has developed the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP), described as a digital repository containing information on feedstock deposits, specifications, production outputs and industrial absorption rates.

The Council has also highlighted its transition towards paperless operations and its certification as a Data Controller/Processor of Major Importance by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.

Such digital infrastructure could provide investors and manufacturers with better information about the availability and characteristics of raw materials while supporting more informed industrial planning.

Turning Waste Into Industrial Inputs

Another major component of ARMS 2026 is the proposed expansion of the circular economy.

The summit will examine how agricultural by-products, mine tailings, scrap metals and biomass can be recovered and reused as inputs for new production processes rather than being treated simply as waste.

The RMRDC argues that such an approach could lower raw-material costs while supporting more sustainable and climate-resilient manufacturing systems.

For Africa, where industrial expansion must increasingly balance economic development with environmental considerations, waste industrialisation could become an important part of the continent’s manufacturing conversation.

From National Production to African Value Chains

The African Continental Free Trade Area is another important element of the summit’s agenda.

The RMRDC sees AfCFTA as an opportunity to create regional value chains in which raw materials sourced in one African country can be processed and supplied to manufacturers in another.

Under such a model, Africa would move beyond simply exporting commodities to external markets and develop stronger internal networks for supplying chemicals, refined minerals, agricultural inputs and other industrial materials across national borders.

This approach places regional integration at the heart of Africa’s industrialisation strategy.

Bridging Research and Capital

A recurring weakness in many developing economies is the gap between research and commercialisation.

Innovations may emerge from universities, research institutions and laboratories without receiving the financing, equipment or market connections required to become commercially viable.

ARMS 2026 intends to address that gap through technology commercialisation and capital linkages, connecting research outputs with investors, development finance institutions and industrial off-takers.

The RMRDC has also cited partnerships with the Bank of Industry for commercial-scale post-harvest processing and a South-South technology-transfer partnership with the National Innovation Centre par Excellence in Shanghai, China.

A Larger Industrial Conversation

The scale of ARMS 2026 is expected to be significantly larger than the maiden edition.

The organisers project more than 1,800 delegates from all 54 African countries and global industrial partners.

The programme will feature high-level policy dialogues, technical panels, an advanced raw materials and technology exhibition, industrial site visits and the African Raw Materials Industry Awards.

The exhibition, in particular, is expected to showcase locally fabricated processing machinery, advanced domestic materials, green chemicals and engineered commercial inputs.

Beyond the speeches and exhibitions, however, the real significance of ARMS 2026 will ultimately depend on what happens after the summit.

Africa’s challenge has never been a shortage of raw materials. The more difficult question has been how to transform those resources into factories, products, skilled employment, technology and sustainable economic opportunities.

For Nigeria and the rest of the continent, the proposed shift from “pit-to-port” to “feedstock-to-factory” therefore represents a broader debate about the future structure of African economies.

ARMS 2026 seeks to place that debate firmly on the industrial agenda — with value addition, technology, finance, infrastructure, circular production and regional trade at the centre.

If the commitments and partnerships generated by the summit translate into measurable industrial activity, the event could provide another platform for Africa to examine how its enormous resource base can support stronger domestic manufacturing.

The message from the organisers is clear: the continent’s raw materials should not only leave African soil as commodities; they should increasingly become the foundation for African industrial production

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