Abdul Samad Rabiu, the founder of BUA Group, says African countries must change the way they handle their resources to prevent job losses and build resilience against shocks.
Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum in Rwanda on Thursday,
Rabiu said countries producing value from commodities benefit more than the
African nations the resources belong to.
“Value addition. My favourite. Africa is rich in resources,
yet too often sends them abroad unprocessed, along with the jobs, skills, and
the value that belongs here in Africa. This must change,” he said.
“Why export iron ore when we can export steel? Africa sits
on over 20 percent of the world’s iron ore reserves, and the quality, as we all
know, is between 64/67 FE iron content, which is the highest anywhere in the
world.
“Why export crude oil when we can power the industrial
ecosystem, industrialisation is no longer aspirational; it is a necessity.
“Nigeria’s transition from cement importer to net exporter
proves what disciplined policy, sustained investment, and local capability can
achieve.
“15-20 years ago, Nigeria was importing over 90 percent of
the cement it was consuming, and then there was a deliberate policy, and today,
Nigeria is producing over 50 million tonnes of cement, with an installed
capacity of over 65 million tonnes.”
Rabiu said the global disruption in energy and supply chain
has shown that economies with domestic processing capacity are more resilient
in terms of shocks.
“The current situation in the Middle East underscores the
importance of local value addition and self-sufficiency,” he said.
“Nigeria offers a strong African example. With the new
refining capacity, Nigeria is strengthening its energy security while also
supporting supply stability across parts of Africa.
“This is the part forward. Building resilience through
domestic capacity and value addition across our continent. This is not only
about growth. It is about resilience.
“Take cocoa for example, we all know that a handful of
African countries produce the majority of global supply of cocoa, yet the
continent captures only a fraction of a market that is short over $200 billion
annually.”
He added that Africa does not lack ambitions, what it lacks
is coordinated execution at scale.
Rabiu said the question is no longer whether Africa can
grow, it is whether Africa can grow as one integrated economic system.
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