These values show a huge biomass residue potential with minimal end-use due to the lack of study or available options for value addition. Silicon dioxide (silica) is one of the most valuable inorganic materials with a range of industrial applications such as an alternative to ordinary Portland cement [25], a precursor for the synthesis of water glass [26], a rubber filler [27], an adsorbent for the treatment of effluents [28], silica mesoporous material [29], a support system in catalysis operations [30] and coatings in epoxy paints [31]. However, the conventional synthesis of silica from a mineral-based precursor, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), involves a high thermal hydrolysis process. This process is energy-consuming and cost-intensive. In addition, secondary products (CO\({}_{2}\) and voluminous amount of wastewater) that are environmentally unfriendly are generated [32; 33; 34; 35]. Therefore, these downsides along the silica production route have hindered their wide applications. Over the last decades, there have been renewed interest in silica extraction from naturally occurring silica plants, including rice husk and straw, wheat straw and cereal remnant, oat husk and spelt husk [36; 37; 38; 39]. Si-accumulating plants present a viable alternative that can be harnessed for producing silicon-based materials [35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41]. [PERSON] et al. [42] investigated the use of agricultural wastes to produce silica nanoparticles. Through thermochemical conversion and leaching procedures, pure silica can be generated from the residues as the bottom ash [43] or fly ash [44] contains a significant amount of silica. The high silica content in fly and bottom ashes can find applications in the production of zeolites and admixtures in cement [25; 44]. Lignocellulosic biomass constitutes cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin [45] with considerable amounts of alkali and alkaline earth metallic species (AAEMs), such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and iron, etc. [46]. The high presence of AAEMs can influence the physiochemical properties of the resulting biogenic silica during combustion, and thus, needs to be removed from the organic matrix before thermal treatment [47]. The use of organic acid such as citric acid to remove the content of AAEMs from the biomass is recommended over inorganic acids due to environmental considerations [48]. The effectiveness of carboxylic acid in producing high-purity amorphous silica from rice husk has been reported by [PERSON] et al. [49]. More importantly, for high-end applications such as catalyst support, the generated biogenic silica must attain specific purity, crystallinity, and porosity [50]. So far, the use of agricultural waste products is economically and commercially successful in many applications. [PERSON] et al. [51] investigated coconut shell ash as a partial substitute of ordinary portland cement in concrete production. Other efforts have been made to understand the role of major constituents of coconut fibres and yarn peels in the absorption of ionic dyes [52] and removal of Cd(II) ions from an aqueous solution [53], respectively. Interestingly, limited studies ([PERSON] et al. [15], [PERSON] et al. [38], [PERSON] et al. [51] and [PERSON] et al. [54]) have been conducted on residues from cassava, yarn, coconut, corncob, and cornhusk as potential silica sources. Therefore, this study critically examines some primary biomass resources accessible in Africa and presents a systematic characterization of their chemical compositions, morphological and thermal behaviour, aspects of textural properties and X-ray diffraction in respect of the five lignocellulosic residues. Hence, the characteristics of silica derived from these residues as a new possible alternative source for silica-based materials are investigated. With the continent's agricultural potential and considering the voluminous quantity