Africa Must Industrialise By Design, Not Chance – BUA Chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu

Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has urged African countries to deliberately shift from exporting raw materials to large-scale industrial processing and value addition, stressing that industrialisation will only occur through intentional policy choices and long-term investment.

The BUA Group Chairman made the remarks in Cape Town, South Africa, as Special Guest of Honour at an Africa Finance Corporation forum held during Mining Indaba 2026, which brought together African leaders, policymakers, financiers and industry executives to discuss the future of mining, industrialisation and real sector development on the continent.

He commended AFC for its role in mobilising long-term capital for Africa’s industrial sectors, noting that the institution’s leadership and recent S&P Global rating with a positive outlook underscored the importance of strong development finance institutions in shaping Africa’s growth trajectory.

Drawing from BUA Group’s experience, the business leader recounted the company’s decision over sixteen years ago to move from cement importation to local production in Nigeria, despite the capital intensity and long gestation periods associated with mining and heavy industry.

“At the time, Nigeria was importing cement despite being richly endowed with limestone,” Rabiu said, explaining “We were spending more time chasing foreign exchange than selling cement. The real question was not whether the resources existed, but whether there was enough conviction to stop importing and start producing locally.”

He noted that BUA currently mines and processes about 40,000 tonnes of limestone daily and produces roughly one million tonnes of cement every month.

According to him, this shift has helped Nigeria move from being a cement importer to a net exporter, saving the country billions of dollars in foreign exchange annually.

The frontline man of commerce stressed that the transformation would not have been possible without patient, long-term financing from development finance institutions, particularly the Africa Finance Corporation, which has supported BUA’s cement and industrial operations with over $400 million in financing.

He added that a significant portion of those facilities has already been repaid, demonstrating that well-structured African industrial projects are both developmental and commercially viable.

Turning to the wider African context, the role model highlighted what he described as a structural paradox, noting that Africa remains one of the world’s most resource-rich regions yet exports most of its minerals and agricultural produce in raw or minimally processed form.

“Africa does not lack resources,” he asserted, emphasising “What it lacks is processing capacity, industrial scale, and disciplined execution.”

He high-value creator cited sectors such as gold, cobalt, copper, iron ore, diamonds and cocoa as examples where Africa supplies much of the world’s raw inputs but captures only a small fraction of the value created downstream.

Rabiu said the same challenge extends to agriculture, pointing out that Africa holds a majority of the world’s arable land but continues to import billions of dollars’ worth of food annually.

Calling for coordinated action, he urged development finance institutions to scale long-term financing targeted at beneficiation and industrial value chains, while governments adopt deliberate policies that incentivise local processing and invest in power, transport and industrial infrastructure.

“Industrialisation does not happen by accident,” the founder of one of the biggest contributors to the Nigerian economy said, adding “Countries that industrialised did so by design, not by chance. Africa must do the same.”