U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President William Ruto met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to explore opportunities for American companies to invest in Kenya’s critical minerals sector, with an emphasis on domestic value addition rather than raw-material exports.
According to the U.S. State Department, the two leaders discussed how local mineral resources could position the East African nation as a significant player in the sector while creating openings for U.S. firms to process and refine materials on the ground.
The talks, held Monday, also covered broader commercial ties, regional security and development.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Kenyan President William Ruto to discuss commercial diplomacy and regional peace and security,” the department said in a statement.
The discussion comes as Kenya seeks to move further up the mineral value chain rather than exporting resources for processing elsewhere. President Ruto has repeatedly argued that African countries should capture more of the economic value generated from their natural resources by developing processing and manufacturing capacity locally.
The U.S. has also signalled interest in supporting that approach.
“They spoke about how critical minerals opportunities in Kenya can position the country as a key player in the sector while presenting opportunities for U.S. firms to provide value addition,” the State Department added.
At an American Chamber of Commerce business gathering in Nairobi on Sept. 9, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia said American companies were interested in partnerships that could support mineral processing in Kenya. He said the objective was not simply to extract minerals and ship them abroad, but to develop processing capacity within the country.
“American companies are not here to extract and ship. That is not partnership, that is extraction,” Garcia said.
That move could become significant as governments and companies compete to secure supplies of minerals used in industries ranging from energy and electronics to advanced manufacturing.
Beyond minerals, the Rubio-Ruto meeting addressed the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for eligible African exports.
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