{"id":194526,"date":"2026-02-11T17:13:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition"},"modified":"2026-02-11T18:32:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:32:01","slug":"rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition","title":{"rendered":"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR CON, has called for a decisive shift in Africa\u2019s development strategy, urging governments, financiers, and the private sector to move the continent from raw material extraction to large-scale industrial processing and value addition.<\/p>\n<p>Rabiu made the remarks as Special Guest of Honour at an Africa Finance Corporation forum during Mining Indaba 2026, where African leaders, policymakers, financiers, and industry executives gathered to discuss the future of mining, industrialisation, and real sector development on the continent.<\/p>\n<p>Commending AFC for its role in mobilising long-term capital for Africa\u2019s industrial sectors, Rabiu noted that the institution\u2019s leadership and recent S&amp;P Global rating with a positive outlook underscored the importance of strong development finance institutions in shaping Africa\u2019s growth trajectory.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing from BUA Group\u2019s experience, he recounted the company\u2019s decision over sixteen years ago to transition from cement importation to local production in Nigeria, despite the capital intensity and long gestation periods associated with mining and heavy industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the time, Nigeria was importing cement despite being richly endowed with limestone,\u201d Rabiu said. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, he noted, BUA mines and processes about forty thousand tonnes of limestone daily, producing roughly one million tonnes of cement every month. That shift has helped Nigeria move from being a cement importer to a net exporter, saving the country billions of dollars in foreign exchange annually.<\/p>\n<p>Rabiu stressed that such a transformation would not have been possible without patient, long-term financing from DFIs, particularly the Africa Finance Corporation, which has supported BUA\u2019s cement and industrial operations with over four hundred million dollars in financing.<\/p>\n<p>He added that a significant portion of those facilities has already been repaid, demonstrating that well-structured African industrial projects are not only developmental but also commercially viable and recyclable.<\/p>\n<p>Turning to the broader continental picture, Rabiu highlighted what he described as a structural paradox: Africa remains one of the world\u2019s most resource-rich regions, yet exports the bulk of its minerals and agricultural produce in raw or minimally processed form.<\/p>\n<p>He cited examples across gold, cobalt, copper, iron ore, diamonds, and cocoa, noting that while Africa supplies much of the world\u2019s raw inputs, it captures only a fraction of the value created downstream.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfrica does not lack resources,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat it lacks is processing capacity, industrial scale, and disciplined execution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He argued that the same challenge extends beyond mining into agriculture, where Africa holds a majority of the world\u2019s arable land yet continues to import billions of dollars\u2019 worth of food annually.<\/p>\n<p>Rabiu called for coordinated action among governments, DFIs, and the private sector, urging DFIs 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndustrialisation does not happen by accident,\u201d he said. \u201cCountries that industrialised did so by design, not by chance. Africa must do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He concluded by stressing that Africa\u2019s opportunity lies in aligning private enterprise, patient capital, and supportive policy to move the continent from extraction to transformation, and from potential to shared prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>About BUA Group<\/p>\n<p>BUA Group is one of Africa\u2019s leading manufacturing, mining, foods, and infrastructure conglomerates with its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. Established in 1988 by industrialist Abdul Samad Rabiu, BUA has significant investments in mining and infrastructure, including Cement Manufacturing, Construction, Real Estate, Plaster Production, and Quarrying &amp; Mining.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR CON, has called for a decisive shift in Africa\u2019s development strategy, urging governments, financiers, and the private sector to move the continent from raw material extraction to large-scale industrial processing and value addition. Rabiu made the remarks as Special Guest of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":194524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-194526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR CON, has called for a decisive shift in Africa\u2019s deve ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR CON, has called for a decisive shift in Africa\u2019s deve ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-11T16:13:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-11T17:32:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-11T16:13:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-11T17:32:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition\"},\"wordCount\":629,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition\",\"name\":\"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-11T16:13:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-11T17:32:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR CON, has called for a decisive shift in Africa\u2019s deve ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition - Nigeria","description":"Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR CON, has called for a decisive shift in Africa\u2019s deve ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition","og_description":"Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR CON, has called for a decisive shift in Africa\u2019s deve ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2026-02-11T16:13:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-11T17:32:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition","datePublished":"2026-02-11T16:13:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-11T17:32:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition"},"wordCount":629,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg","keywords":["Nigeria"],"articleSection":["all news","Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition","name":"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-11T16:13:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-11T17:32:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR CON, has called for a decisive shift in Africa\u2019s deve ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770831090.878892.jpg","width":1080,"height":720,"caption":"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rabiu-advocates-shift-from-extraction-to-value-addition#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rabiu Advocates Shift From Extraction to Value Addition"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}