President William Ruto has challenged African countries to change the way they use their natural wealth, saying the continent should process its minerals and agricultural products locally instead of continuing to ship raw materials for others to turn into finished goods.
Ruto made the call on Wednesday, September 24, 2026, while addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he said Africa has the resources needed to become a major player in food production, clean energy, manufacturing and global supply chains.
“Distinguished delegates, Africa does not come to plead. We come with a proposal. Our continent holds vast mineral wealth, immense agricultural potential, extraordinary renewable energy resources, and the world’s youngest population,” Ruto said.
He said Africa's resource base, combined with its growing population and expanding market, presents an opportunity for the continent to build stronger industries and retain more of the value generated from its resources.
Ruto noted that Africa has more than 1.5 billion people and is increasingly linked through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), giving countries on the continent a wider market for goods produced locally.
“These are not merely African assets. Properly developed, they are part of the answer to the world’s search for food security, clean energy, resilient supply chains, and a new source of growth,” he said.
The President said African countries should no longer view the extraction of natural resources as the final stage of their contribution to global markets.
“Africa’s resources must become the beginning of African industry, not the end of Africa’s contribution to the value chain,” he said.
He said the continent's past had been marked by the extraction and export of resources, but argued that investment should now support industries that process those resources and produce higher-value goods within Africa.
“Extraction defined too much of our past. Investment must underpin our future,” Ruto said.
To illustrate the shift he wants to see, Ruto pointed to developments in the cocoa sector, where some producing countries are moving beyond the sale of cocoa beans and developing their own brands.
He also referred to cotton-producing countries that are developing value chains around the crop, allowing more activity linked to production and processing to take place within Africa.
The UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa has also identified Africa's large share of global critical mineral reserves as an opportunity, while noting the challenge of ensuring that the continent captures more of the economic value generated from those resources.
Ruto said the same approach should apply to Africa's role in the global move towards clean energy.
“And Africa has made its position clear. The clean energy transition must not become another extractive transition,” he said.
He warned against a situation where Africa simply becomes a supplier of the raw materials needed for clean energy technologies while manufacturing and other high-value activities remain elsewhere.
Ruto also called for AfCFTA to support greater production on the continent rather than serving mainly as a market for goods already made in Africa.
“The Africa continental free trade area must be more than a market for what Africa already produces. It must become the platform on which Africa makes more of what it now imports,” Ruto said.
The President's message at the global meeting centred on increasing investment in African industries, expanding value addition and using the continent's mineral, agricultural and energy resources to support local production.
He said Africa's resources should help create industries and jobs while enabling the continent to produce more finished goods instead of continuing to depend heavily on exports of raw materials.