- Ruto orders an end to raw material exports as Kenya prioritises local processing.
- The policy targets more jobs, manufacturing and wealth retention.
- Kenya faces the challenge of building competitive processing capacity locally.
President William Ruto has declared that Kenya will no longer export raw materials for processing abroad, signalling a major shift in the country’s approach to minerals and other natural resources as the Government seeks to create jobs and retain more wealth within the economy.
He said the Government was moving away from an extractive economic model in which Kenya exports unprocessed resources while foreign firms capture much of the value generated through processing and manufacturing.
“It is now the policy of the Government that Kenya will no longer be exporting raw materials. All our raw materials, including soda ash from Lake Magadi, are going to be added value in Kenya,” the President said. He spoke on Sunday during a thanksgiving service for Devolution Principal Secretary (PS) Michael Lenasalon in South Horr, Samburu County.
The policy would require minerals and other raw materials produced in Kenya to undergo greater processing locally before being exported, potentially expanding opportunities in manufacturing, industrial services, employment and related supply chains.
The President’s announcement places local value addition at the centre of Kenya’s broader economic transformation strategy, with the Government seeking to move the country beyond the export of primary commodities towards higher-value production.
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Ruto argued that Kenya has historically earned less from its natural resources because much of the processing and value creation takes place outside the country. The proposed shift is therefore aimed at ensuring that the economic benefits generated from Kenyan resources are retained locally for longer, while creating more opportunities for Kenyan workers, businesses and investors.
What the policy will require
For Kenya to extract the full benefit of local value addition, the country will need adequate processing capacity, reliable and affordable energy, efficient transport infrastructure, skilled labour, investment capital and predictable regulatory frameworks.
The policy would also require stronger linkages between resource extraction, local manufacturers and Kenyan businesses so that processing does not simply shift ownership of value chains without creating broad-based domestic benefits. If implemented effectively, the shift could transform minerals and other natural resources from largely export commodities into drivers of industrialisation, employment and domestic manufacturing.
The central test will now be whether Kenya can build sufficient capacity to process its resources competitively at home, and translate the President’s policy declaration into factories, jobs, higher export earnings and greater domestic retention of wealth.
By Hillary Muhalya
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