Africa needs to stop shipping out raw minerals and start building integrated industries if it wants real economic resilience, BUA Group Chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu told the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali on Thursday.
Speaking to business and political leaders, Rabiu said geopolitical shifts and changing supply chains have created a rare window for Africa to rethink its economic model.
“We meet at a time when the global economic order is being reshaped in real time,” he said. “This is not only about growth, it is about resilience.”
Africa holds over 30% of the world’s mineral resources, but Rabiu said the continent captures little value because most materials are exported unprocessed. “When raw materials leave without transformation, value leaves with them,” he said.
His call: move from commodity export to building value chains that turn local resources into finished products on the continent.
Rabiu also faulted weak implementation of Africa’s integration frameworks, pointing to visa barriers that make it harder for Africans to travel within Africa than for outsiders. “Being in Africa turned away because I do not have a visa and foreigners from other continents coming in without a visa. This must change,” he said.
He argued that ambition isn’t the problem. “Africa does not lack ambition, what it has lacked is coordinated execution at scale,” he said, urging governments, institutions, and businesses to act together.
“History will not judge us by the speeches we deliver, it will judge us by the systems we build,” Rabiu said. “The moment is here. The choice is ours and the time is now. Africa at scale is not an aspiration, it is a decision.”
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