West Africa like many countries in the world is endowed with abundant mineral resources but many of its member states remain underdeveloped and their citizens remain poor.
Experts in the region say unless regional countries adopt a strategic approach of transforming raw materials in to finished products or properly negotiating concessions, they will continue to gain very little from their mineral resources.
Benjamin Boakye is the Deputy Executive Director of the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ghana.
