During the recent AmCham Business Summit in Nairobi, one message came through clearly: Kenya is standing at an extraordinary moment.
Critical minerals define international economic policy. Governments want secure supply chains, manufacturers need materials, and technologies are driving demand for minerals used in everything from smartphones to energy infrastructure and advanced defence systems.
Kenya has much of what it needs to seize this opportunity. Its mineral potential is real, and it pairs that with a sophisticated financial sector, a verified warehouse system, and growing technical expertise.
Add access to the Port of Mombasa and its position as East Africa’s commercial hub, and Kenya is already emerging as a leader among African countries seeking to turn natural resources into industrial development.
But mineral potential is not enough. As United States Ambassador to mineral-rich Guinea, I saw natural resources attract enormous investment without producing broad-based prosperity. Geology opens the door; policy, technology, and political will determine what comes through it.
Mining has historically been a conservative industry; capital-intensive, technically difficult, and rightly cautious about risk. But caution can hold back progress. When the industry says something cannot be done, it often means it has not been done before or would disrupt an established business model. Kenya should not accept that answer.
The Kenyan government has laid down a challenge: minerals should not be extracted and shipped overseas for higher-value work elsewhere. Processing, beneficiation, and more surrounding activity should take place in Kenya.
The technology, expertise, and capital exist. What is required is clear government direction and companies prepared to innovate.
Kenya should insist on tomorrow’s technology today: extraction and processing techniques that reduce energy and water consumption, improve recovery rates, and manage environmental risks. Projects should be designed around Kenyan processing capacity, supported by infrastructure that lets mines strengthen the wider economy.
The tender for the niobium and rare-earth prospect at Mrima Hill is an immediate opportunity to apply these principles. The minerals identified there are used in electronics, high-strength alloys and permanent magnets. Yet further exploration and economic analysis are needed. The task is not to rush into extraction, but to select a partner capable of establishing what is technically, economically, environmentally, and socially feasible.
The right partner will bring financing and modern technology, build Kenyan expertise, and recognise that a prospecting licence does not replace environmental, land-use, or other statutory approvals. It will engage communities early enough for their knowledge and concerns to shape the project.
Africa also needs greater ownership over how its minerals are traded and priced. Today, the benchmarks that matter globally are still set through institutions far removed from the countries producing the resources. The London Metal Exchange, for example, is based in Britain and owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.
Africa should not remain only a source of material while pricing, financing, and market power sit elsewhere.
The continent should develop a minerals marketplace offering transparent price discovery, certified inventories, traceable transactions, and access to finance. Nairobi’s financial sector, technology and regional connectivity make it a natural home. Existing initiatives provide a foundation, but the ambition should be a credible African minerals and metals platform serving producers continent-wide.
The United States should support that ambition. American companies can bring capital, expertise, advanced environmental practices, and global customers. The US government can support participation through commercial diplomacy, development finance, and technical partnerships. Kenya brings resources, talent, clean-energy potential, and a fast-growing regional market.
This is not aid, nor should it be framed as a geopolitical contest in which Kenya must choose sides. It is a partnership between equals, based on mutual commercial interest.
Mining, processing, and building markets are difficult. But difficult does not mean impossible. Kenya’s government says a different model can be built. The private sector should take up that challenge and African governments must stop taking no for an answer.