Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has expressed support for Uganda’s decision to ban the export of unprocessed minerals, describing the policy as a key step toward boosting local value addition and attracting industrial investment.
President Yoweri Museveni reiterated Uganda’s position on 23 April 2026 during the Africa We Build Summit in Nairobi, an event organised by the Africa Finance Corporation in collaboration with the Kenyan government.
Dangote, who also addressed the summit, said policies that restrict raw mineral exports encourage domestic processing and industrial development across Africa.
“Banning raw exports forces value addition within Africa and will attract investors who are willing to refine minerals locally rather than ship them abroad,” he said.
Uganda’s policy aims to increase national earnings by processing minerals domestically. For example, a tonne of raw vermiculite sells for about $25, while processed output can fetch up to $410—highlighting the significant value gained through local beneficiation.
The policy is also expected to support job creation and industrial growth. In Jinja, a new steel plant by Abyssinia Group is projected to employ around 280 people directly and support more than 1,000 indirect jobs, producing up to 75,000 tonnes of steel annually using locally sourced iron ore.
Uganda’s mineral wealth includes an estimated 312 million tonnes of iron ore in Kabale, alongside deposits of manganese, tin, wolfram, beryl, diamonds, coltan, and other strategic minerals. Gold remains one of the country’s leading export earners, with government-backed plans already underway to establish a gold refinery to retain more value domestically.
Dangote also signalled readiness to invest in a major regional oil refinery in East Africa, telling both Museveni and Kenyan President William Ruto that the project is commercially viable and could be delivered within four to five years, based on a model similar to his Lagos refinery.
President Ruto indicated that the proposed facility would be located in Tanga, Tanzania, and linked to Mombasa via pipeline, creating a shared refining hub for crude from regional producers including South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Uganda is preparing to begin oil production in July 2026 from the Tilenga and Kingfisher fields, further strengthening the region’s upstream output.
Dangote highlighted that Africa, despite producing around 7% of global crude oil, continues to suffer from limited refining capacity, forcing many countries to rely heavily on fuel imports. His Lagos refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, has already helped Nigeria reduce import dependence and is expected to expand further.
He argued that expanding refining capacity across Africa would reduce vulnerability to global supply shocks, particularly amid recent geopolitical tensions affecting energy markets.
East African economies remain exposed to external fuel supply risks, with countries such as Kenya relying on import agreements with suppliers including Saudi Aramco, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and the Emirates National Oil Company.