From Lagos, John Silas
Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR CON, Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, called for a decisive shift in Africa’s development strategy, urging governments, financiers and the private sector to move Africa from raw material extraction to large-scale industrial processing and value addition.
According to a company release, Rabiu made the remarks as the special guest of honor at the Africa Finance Corporation Forum during Mining Indaba 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The forum brought together African leaders, policy makers, financiers and industry executives to discuss the future of the continent’s mining, industrialization and real sector development.
Mr. Rabiu praised the AFC’s role in mobilizing long-term capital to Africa’s industrial sectors, noting that the agency’s leadership and recent positive S&P Global Ratings outlook underscore the importance of strong development finance institutions in shaping Africa’s growth trajectory.
Drawing on BUA Group’s experience, he detailed the company’s decision more than 16 years ago to move from importing cement to local production in Nigeria, despite the capital concentration and long establishment period associated with mining and heavy industry.
“At that time, Nigeria was importing cement even though we were rich in limestone,” Rabiu said. “We were spending more time chasing foreign exchange than selling cement. The real question was not whether the resources existed, but whether we had enough confidence to stop importing and start producing locally.”
“Currently, BUA mines and processes about 40,000 tonnes of limestone every day and produces about 1 million tonnes of cement every month, he said.
This transformation allowed Nigeria to move from being a cement importer to a net exporter, saving billions of dollars in foreign exchange every year. Rabiu stressed that this transformation would not have been possible without patient long-term financing from DFIs, especially the African Finance Corporation. African Finance Corporation has supported BUA’s cement and industrial operations with over $400 million in financing.
He added that most of these facilities have already been paid off, proving that well-structured African industrial projects are not only viable for development, but also commercially viable and recyclable.
Turning to the broader continental situation, Rabiu highlighted what he described as a structural paradox. Although Africa remains one of the world’s most resource-rich regions, it exports the majority of its minerals and agricultural products in raw or minimally processed form. He cited examples such as gold, cobalt, copper, iron ore, diamonds and cocoa, noting that while Africa supplies much of the world’s raw inputs, it captures only a fraction of the value created downstream. “There is no shortage of resources in Africa,” he said.
“What Africa lacks is processing capacity, industrial scale and disciplined execution.” He argued that the same challenges extend beyond mining to agriculture, where Africa accounts for most of the world’s arable land but continues to import billions of dollars worth of food each year. Mr. Rabiu called for concerted action by governments, DFIs and the private sector, urging DFIs to scale up long-term financing targeting benefits and industrial value chains, while governments adopt deliberate policies to encourage local processing. Investments in power, transport and industrial infrastructure.
“Industrialization doesn’t happen by accident,” he said. “Countries that industrialized did so by design, not by chance, and Africa must do the same.
He concluded by stressing that Africa’s opportunity lies in aligning private enterprise, patient capital and supportive policies to move the continent from extraction to transformation and from potential to shared prosperity.
