Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder and chairman of BUA Group, has called on African governments and business leaders to drive a continent-wide industrial revolution by shifting Africa away from the export of raw commodities toward large-scale industrial production.
Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rabiu said Africa must urgently reposition itself within the rapidly changing global economic order by building integrated manufacturing and production systems capable of transforming the continent’s economic future.
According to him, geopolitical tensions, shifting alliances and the restructuring of global supply chains have created a defining moment for Africa to rethink its economic model and strengthen economic resilience.
“We meet at a time when the global economic order is being reshaped in real time,” Rabiu said.
“Geopolitical tensions, shifting alliances and reconfigured supply chains are redefining how the world produces and trades. This is not only about growth, it is about resilience.”
The billionaire industrialist lamented that despite possessing more than 30 per cent of the world’s mineral resources, Africa continues to derive limited economic value because most raw materials leave the continent without processing or industrial transformation.
“Africa has over 30% of the world’s minerals but adds little value. So, when raw materials leave without transformation, value leaves with them,” he said
He also criticised what he described as weak implementation of African integration frameworks, particularly regarding free trade and movement across the continent.
Rabiu expressed frustration over visa barriers faced by Africans travelling within Africa while visitors from outside the continent often enjoy easier access.
“Being in Africa turned away because I do not have a visa and foreigners from other continents coming in without a visa. This must change,” he said.
The BUA Group chairman said Africa’s major challenge was no longer a lack of ambition but the absence of coordinated execution among governments, institutions and businesses.
“Your excellencies, Africa does not lack ambition, what it has lacked is coordinated execution at scale,” he declared.
Rabiu maintained that Africa’s future would ultimately be defined not by speeches or declarations but by the institutions, industries and systems built to support large-scale economic transformation.
“History will not judge us by the speeches we deliver, it will judge us by the systems we build and whether they enable Africa to rise at scale.”
Calling for urgent collective action, he said Africa had reached a decisive moment in its development journey.
“The moment is here. The choice is ours and the time is now. Africa at scale is not an aspiration, it is a decision,” he said.
