 but to perk up our export receipts.){kind=link}
KENYA IN EAST Africa is joining other nations in the region that did away with raw mineral exports. While the Philippines has been steadfast in exporting raw ores (particularly nickel, which has high global demand these days) even as it mouths its desire to eventually go for local processing into semi and finished products for exports.
A report filed on Sunday by business journalist Olamilekan Okebiorun said Kenya is moving to end the export of raw minerals as East Africa’s largest economy pushes to process more of its natural resources locally, create jobs and retain a greater share of their value.
Kenyan President Ruto highlighted minerals like gold, limestone, iron ore, graphite, titanium, and soda ash as targets for domestic processing.The government is partnering with investors such as Aliko Dangote to establish oil refineries and gold processing facilities within Kenya.
Kenya joins other African nations like Zimbabwe and Ghana that have implemented similar policies to boost local value addition.
President William Ruto said on September 6 that his administration was exploring ways to ensure minerals extracted in Kenya are processed locally before export.
He named gold, limestone, iron ore, graphite, titanium and soda ash among the resources targeted under the policy.
“Going into the future, our position as the government. Whether we are talking about Magadi Soda or oil or all our minerals we have taken the decision that we will no longer export raw materials. We are going to process all minerals available in Kenya,” he said.
The policy places Kenya among a growing number of African countries seeking to reduce raw mineral exports and retain more value through local processing.
Zimbabwe, Africa’s largest lithium producer, suspended exports of raw minerals and lithium concentrates in February 2026, while Ghana began requiring locally purchased gold doré to be refined domestically before export from September 1.
Namibia restricts exports of selected unprocessed critical minerals, while Malawi requires more minerals to be processed or value-added locally and Mozambique has tightened controls on unprocessed and semi-processed mineral exports.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has also used export controls in its cobalt sector.
Ruto said Kenya would work with investors to establish processing facilities and expand value addition across the mining and extractive industries.
He pointed to plans involving Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, saying Kenya was working towards an oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Lamu as well as gold refining facilities.
“It is the reason why we are working with Dangote to have an oil refinery in Lamu and working with others to have gold refineries because it is imprudent for any government to export raw materials, create jobs and value in other countries while we have a big population of young people who need jobs and whose value on adding to our products can make a big difference in our country,” he said.
Dangote has separately disclosed plans for a refinery on Kenya’s coast that would serve Kenya and neighbouring East African markets, reducing the region’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products.
Kenya links Tata dispute to local processing drive
The policy also feeds directly into the government’s dispute with Tata Chemicals over its long-running soda ash operations at Lake Magadi in Kajiado County.
Ruto has argued that Kenya has received too little value from the operation, accusing the company of exporting raw material while failing to develop enough local processing capacity.
Tata Chemicals has said it respects the government’s authority and remains committed to resolving the dispute through regulatory engagement.
“We want to give five, six or even 10 companies an opportunity to use the resources there to create jobs, value, create wealth and reduce poverty,” Ruto said.
Tata Chemicals’ mining operations were suspended from July 28, 2026, over compliance and licensing issues.
The wider strategy reflects a growing African push to process minerals locally, with Kenya, whose economy is projected at about $147 billion in 2026, seeking to boost manufacturing, jobs and export earnings while retaining more value at home.
Back when I was a young reporter during Martial Law, I have been hearing DENR and Bureau of Mines officials, including the current president’s late father, President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, speaking highly of the robust potentials of having our ores processed locally, not only to create more (and better jobs) but to perk up our export receipts (as buyers would be buying finished products instead of ores or boulders).
But each time I follow up on this plan, they just give me excuses like the huge cost of setting up processing plants, the infrastructure support needed and the precarious dollar reserves the country had at that time– which agreeably was marked by the lowest investor confidence, hence almost no foreign investment was coming in except those tied up with loans from multilateral lending institutions.
Several decades later we are still mouthing the dream, which has become more elusive because of wrong priorities, too much corruption and myopic (or should I say, reactive) development plans.