Tayebwa calls on OACPS to prioritise value addition and end raw mineral exports
BRUSSELS, July 20, 2026 — The Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Uganda and President of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States [ OACPS ] Parliamentary Assembly, Thomas Tayebwa, has called on OACPS member states to place trade, industrialisation and value addition at the centre of their development agenda.
Tayebwa made the remarks last week while addressing the 121st OACPS Council of Ministers at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium.
He urged the 79-member bloc to focus on practical economic policies that directly improve the livelihoods of its citizens, arguing that the organisation’s relevance will increasingly be measured by its ability to create jobs, strengthen regional industries and enable member states to derive greater value from their natural resources.
The Deputy Speaker said one of the most pressing challenges facing Africa and other developing regions is the continued export of unprocessed minerals.
He noted that the issue has long been championed by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, who has consistently argued that Africa cannot attain meaningful prosperity while exporting raw materials and importing finished products.
“I think at the level of the Council of Ministers, we need to start tackling the hard questions relevant to our people. One of them is… the issue of Africa and the developing world exporting unprocessed minerals as raw materials,” Tayebwa said.
He supported his argument with figures indicating that Africa possesses an estimated US$ 29.5 trillion in mineral wealth—about 20 per cent of the global total—yet continues to lose enormous economic value because most of its minerals are exported in raw or minimally processed form. Rather than refining or manufacturing higher-value products locally, many African countries export ores and concentrates, allowing other economies to capture the most profitable stages of the value chain.
According to Tayebwa, this model has effectively seen Africa export employment opportunities and industrial growth alongside its natural resources.
He observed that the continent processes only a small proportion of the minerals it produces, while countries that import those minerals generate significantly greater wealth through manufacturing and value addition.
He cited the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC] as an example of how local processing can transform economies, noting that increased domestic processing of cobalt had substantially boosted the country’s revenues.
Drawing a parallel with the coffee industry, Tayebwa said Africa similarly receives only a fraction of the wealth generated from commodities it produces.
“I remember my President gave us some feedback… the coffee market was worth around US$ 465 billion and out of that only US$25 billion was going to the coffee-producing countries, with Africa taking only 3 per cent. Now, you producers, you produce US$465 billion worth of value and get only US$ 25 billion,” he said.
Tayebwa further warned that unless the OACPS redefines its priorities by focusing on issues that directly affect the lives of ordinary citizens, the bloc risks losing its relevance.
The OACPS brings together countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific to promote cooperation in trade, sustainable development and political dialogue.
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