BUA Group’s Rabiu Urges Africa To Shift From Uncooked Materials Extraction To Industrial Worth Addition
Founder and Government Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has known as for a decisive shift in Africa’s improvement technique, urging governments, financiers, and the non-public sector to maneuver the continent from uncooked materials extraction to large-scale industrial processing and worth addition.
Rabiu made the remarks as Particular Visitor of Honour at an Africa Finance Company (AFC) discussion board throughout the Mining Indaba 2026, the place African leaders, policymakers, financiers, and trade executives gathered to debate the way forward for mining, industrialisation, and actual sector improvement on the continent.
Commending AFC for its position in mobilising long-term capital for Africa’s industrial sectors, an announcement quoted Rabiu as saying the establishment’s management and up to date S&P World score, with a optimistic outlook, underscored the significance of sturdy improvement finance establishments in shaping Africa’s development trajectory.
Drawing from BUA Group’s expertise, he recounted the corporate’s resolution over 16 years in the past to transition from cement importation to native production in Nigeria, regardless of the capital depth and lengthy gestation intervals related to mining and heavy trade.
“On the time, Nigeria was importing cement regardless of being richly endowed with limestone,” Rabiu stated.
He added, “We have been spending extra time chasing overseas change than promoting cement. The true query was not whether or not the sources existed, however whether or not there was sufficient conviction to cease importing and begin producing regionally.”
He stated at this time, BUA mined and processed about 40,000 tonnes of limestone each day, producing roughly a million tonnes of cement each month.
That shift helped Nigeria transfer from being a cement importer to a internet exporter, saving the nation billions of {dollars} in overseas change yearly, he acknowledged.
Rabiu confused that such a change wouldn’t have been potential with out affected person, long-term financing from DFIs, significantly the AFC, which had supported BUA’s cement and industrial operations with over $400 million in financing.
He added that a good portion of the amenities had already been repaid, demonstrating that well-structured African industrial initiatives usually are not solely developmental but in addition commercially viable and recyclable.
Turning to the broader continental image, Rabiu highlighted what he described as a structural paradox: Africa stays one of many world’s most resource-rich areas, but exports the majority of its minerals and agricultural produce in uncooked or minimally processed kind.
He cited examples throughout gold, cobalt, copper, iron ore, diamonds, and cocoa, stating that whereas Africa provides a lot of the world’s uncooked inputs, it captures solely a fraction of the worth created downstream.
“Africa doesn’t lack sources,” he stated, stressing, “What it lacks is processing capability, industrial scale, and disciplined execution.”
He defined that the identical problem prolonged past mining into agriculture, the place Africa holds a majority of the world’s arable land, but continues to import billions of {dollars}’ price of meals yearly.
Rabiu known as for coordinated motion amongst governments, DFIs, and the non-public sector, urging DFIs to scale long-term financing focused at beneficiation and industrial worth chains.
He urged governments to undertake deliberate insurance policies that incentivised native processing and invested in energy, transport, and industrial infrastructure.
He stated, “Industrialisation doesn’t occur accidentally,” including, “Nations that industrialised did so by design, not by likelihood. Africa should do the identical.”
Rabiu acknowledged that Africa’s alternative lay in aligning non-public enterprise, affected person capital, and supportive coverage to maneuver the continent from extraction to transformation, and from potential to shared prosperity.
Times Nigeria