SPA Dr. Hillary Musoke Urges African leaders to end dependence on exporting raw materials, Pushes for value addition, agro-industrialization

Uganda’s Senior Presidential Advisor on Agri-business and Value Addition, Dr. Hillary Emmanuel Musoke, has called upon African leaders to end dependence on exporting raw materials, arguing that the continent’s future prosperity lies in value addition, agro-industrialization, and regional economic integration under African Union Agenda 2063.

At the commemoration of the 2026 African Union Day in Nairobi, speaking during a high-level panel discussion titled “Agenda 2063 , The Africa We Want” at the Edge Convention Centre on May 25, Dr. Musoke described Africa’s continued export of raw agricultural products as an “economic hemorrhage” that has denied millions of young Africans jobs, industrial growth, and economic sovereignty.

“Africa is not poor in land, labor, or water,” he told delegates. “We are poor in value. In that gap, we are exporting both jobs and wealth in containers. We are exporting our sovereignty.”

Dr. Musoke highlighted what he described as a painful paradox despite possessing 60 percent of the world’s uncultivated arable land and vast freshwater resources, Africa still imports more than $50 billion worth of food annually. He noted that much of the continent’s farmland remains naturally organic, giving Africa a competitive advantage in global premium markets that remains largely underexploited.

Dr. Musoke argued that the continent’s overreliance on exporting raw commodities such as coffee beans, cocoa, cotton, hides, and skins has allowed foreign companies to capture the most profitable stages of production through processing, branding, packaging, and certification.

He cited Uganda’s coffee sector as an example, explaining that while African farmers produce high-quality coffee, much of the value is realized abroad where the products are roasted, branded, and sold back to international markets including Africa with prices set highly.

to Dr. Musoke, Uganda loses more than $1.5 billion annually by exporting unprocessed agricultural products, a trend he said contributes directly to unemployment and irregular migration of the youth to seek for employment in Middle East.“The most painful symptom of this hemorrhage is migration,” he said.

“Young Africans are risking everything to leave for Europe, the Middle East, and the United States because we have not built industries at home.

”The presentation aligned Uganda’s development strategy with the broader aspirations of the African Union Agenda 2063 framework, particularly the goals of creating a prosperous and globally influential Africa.

Dr. Musoke said president Museveni’s leadership prioritises agro-industrialization and commercialization of agriculture through programs such as the Parish Development Model, which seeks to organize millions of Ugandans into savings and production cooperatives.He said Uganda is increasingly investing in agro-processing zones, organic certification systems, standards laboratories, and youth-centered agricultural technology in an effort to transform agriculture from subsistence activity into a profitable modern industry.

The Ugandan delegation also emphasized the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area in creating regional markets for processed African products, arguing that African economies must trade more with one another rather than primarily serving external markets.Other speakers at the commemoration echoed similar concerns about Africa’s economic structure and called for stronger regional cooperation, industrial policy reforms, and investment in youth innovation to achieve the goals of Agenda 2063.

Delegates like PLO Lumumba stressed that Africa’s demographic advantage with more than 60 percent of its population under the age of 25 could either become a major economic asset or a source of instability if industrialization and employment opportunities are not expanded rapidly.

Dr. Musoke proposed four major continental reforms to accelerate Africa’s transformation: harmonizing trade policies to remove non-tariff barriers, increasing financing for agro-industrial enterprises, reforming education systems to prioritize technical and industrial skills, and building African owned certification systems and manufacturing brands.

He also challenged African governments to conduct comprehensive continental value-chain analyses to identify industries that can be developed locally from agricultural products already produced across the continent.

“No more exporting hides and importing shoes. No more exporting cotton and importing second-hand clothes. No more exporting sovereignty in containers,” he said.

The speech comes at a time when many African economies are intensifying discussions around food security, industrialization, and economic self-reliance amid rising global trade disruptions, climate pressures, and youth unemployment.Analysts attending the event said the discussion reflected a growing shift among African policymakers toward promoting domestic manufacturing, regional value chains, and export diversification as key drivers of long-term economic resilience.

For Uganda and much of Africa, the message delivered in Nairobi was clear: the continent’s future competitiveness will depend not only on what it produces, but on how much value it retains before those products reach global markets.

Closing his address, Dr. Musoke urged African leaders to view agriculture not merely as farming, but as the foundation for sovereignty, industrial growth, and continental transformation.

“A prosperous Africa,” he said, “is an Africa that processes what it produces.”A CALL FOR STRONGER AFRICAN UNITY:During this summit, the Chairman of African Union Commission (AUC), Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and Burundian president Évariste Ndayishimiye called for stronger African unity, accelerated integration, and reforms to global governance systems. Celebrating 63 years since the founding of the Organization of African Unity, the leaders emphasized the need for Africa to speak with one voice on international issues.

Youssouf highlighted Africa’s growing influence globally, including its permanent membership in the G20, and renewed calls for reform of the United Nations Security Council to give Africa fair representation. He also praised efforts toward reparatory justice for slavery and colonialism, particularly Ghana’s role at the United Nations.

President Ndayishimiye focused on the continent’s humanitarian and security challenges, warning that conflicts, terrorism, climate disasters, and lack of education threaten Africa’s future.

He urged African countries to unite against terrorism and prioritize education for refugees and displaced children.

Both leaders re-echoed Dr. Musoke’s presentation saying, support for the African Continental Free Trade Area is key to economic growth, industrialization, and youth employment.

They also stressed the importance of water security, climate resilience, and sanitation under the 2026 AU theme linked to Agenda 2063.

The leaders celebrated Africa’s achievements, including a record nine African teams qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, which they described as a sign of the continent’s growing talent and ambition. They concluded by encouraging Africans to embrace Pan-Africanism, unity, and shared progress for the future of the continent.