At Nairobi Summit, African Leaders Push to End Raw Exports

Nairobi, Kenya – During a plenary session at The Africa We Build Summit 2026 in Nairobi, Aliko Dangote, Yoweri Museveni and William Ruto argue the continent is giving away billions, exporting jobs and missing out on industrial growth by shipping out unprocessed oil, gold and iron ore instead of building refineries and factories at home

Inside the JW Marriott Hotel ballroom in Nairobi, where the #TheAfricaWeBuildSummit 2026 is underway, African leaders and business executives delivered a blunt message: the continent must stop exporting raw materials and start building industries that process them at home.

“If the president of Kenya or Uganda supports us, we’ll build an oil refinery in this region just as big as the one in Nigeria which has a capacity of 650,000 barrels. Let’s not be scared, Africa can process its raw materials,” said Aliko Dangote.

The remarks set the tone for a summit dominated by calls for industrialization and regional cooperation, as policymakers and investors confront a long-standing economic model that has left Africa exporting crude resources while importing finished goods at higher prices.

Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, outlined a more immediate step. “We’re building a small oil refinery for the local market first, some parts of Tanzania and Kenya, with a capacity of 50,000-60,000 barrels,” he said.

Museveni argued that the real losses lie in failing to add value before export. “If you sell a kilo of gold unprocessed the price is $60,000 per kg, when you process, the price shoots to $168,000 per kg. So it’s criminal to export unprocessed raw materials.”

For decades, many African economies have relied on exporting commodities in their raw form, from crude oil to minerals and agricultural produce. The processing, refining and manufacturing has largely taken place outside the continent, limiting job creation and industrial growth at home.

Museveni illustrated the imbalance with an example from Uganda’s mining sector. “Some Indian guy from New Delhi came to Uganda and made a deal with people here to buy our iron ore at $45 per tonne. Mind you our ore is the best in the world, about 70% pure. He would then go and sell at $900 per tonne and that means we export all the jobs created. So I stopped them.”

Dangote, whose business empire spans cement, sugar and oil refining, said industrialization must go hand in hand with deeper integration across African markets. “Let African governments copy what Kenya has done. Let’s allow free movement of people without visa requirements within Africa,” he said.

He also warned about the volatility of capital flows. “Foreign investors only come to Africa when the business conditions are looking rosy. And then when our people get money, they take it outside the continent.”

Kenya’s president, William Ruto, pointed to another challenge: regional rivalry. “Petty jealousy is a problem in Africa,” he said.

“I’ll give an example. When I visited president Museveni and told him Kenya needed iron ore to process in Nairobi, he told me that’s not within his policy. I then asked Kenyan investors to go and invest in processing plants in Kampala. And this benefits Kenya because it’s cheaper to import steel from Uganda than from foreign markets.”

His comments highlighted the tension between national industrial ambitions and the need for cross-border value chains. While countries seek to develop domestic industries, economies of scale often require cooperation within the region.

The discussions in Nairobi reflect a broader push to reshape Africa’s economic trajectory. The African Continental Free Trade Area has opened the door to greater intra-African trade, but progress has been uneven, slowed by infrastructure gaps, regulatory barriers and political caution.

Still, the tone at the summit suggested a growing urgency among both leaders and private investors.

Dangote’s proposal for a large-scale refinery in East Africa signals the scale of private capital that could flow into the region if policy support aligns. Museveni’s refinery project points to incremental progress, while Ruto’s emphasis on cross-border investment underscores the potential of regional industrial hubs.

Whether these ambitions translate into concrete change remains uncertain. Africa’s resource wealth has long coexisted with limited industrialization, and reversing that pattern will require coordinated policy, sustained investment and stronger regional trust.

But at the gathering in Nairobi, the message was clear. The continent’s leaders are increasingly framing raw exports not as an opportunity, but as a missed one.

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