Ruto declares war on foreign mining giants ahead of G7 meet

French President Emmanuel Macron and President William Ruto at Borgo Egnazia Resort in Apulia City for the 2024 G7 Summit. [Courtesy]

President William Ruto renewed calls for reform of the United Nations and the global financial system on Monday and vowed to end what he cast as the exploitation of Kenya’s mineral wealth by foreign companies as he prepared to travel to France for the G7 summit.

Speaking ahead of the trip, Ruto said Kenya would push for a new international order based on “sovereign equality” rather than aid, dependency or extractive relationships, echoing arguments he has made in several speeches calling for a more representative and accountable multilateral system.

“As a people, we do not want relationships with others based on dependency. No. We want a relationship of sovereign equality,” Ruto said.

He said he would take “a very candid position” in France, arguing for partnerships based on mutual benefit and investment rather than charity or resource extraction.

“We will be pitching for a different international governance and international financial architecture. One that recognises everybody,” he said.

Ruto, who has repeatedly called for changes to the UN Security Council and the international financial architecture, argues that institutions built after World War Two no longer reflect modern political and economic realities, especially the interests of Africa and other developing regions.

His latest remarks add a resource nationalism message to a broader diplomatic campaign he has pursued in global forums, where he has pushed for fairer access to development finance, debt restructuring and stronger African representation in decision-making bodies.

“It is no longer tenable. It is no longer acceptable to have an organisation that is not representative, that is not democratic, and that is not accountable,” Ruto said of the United Nations.

Ruto said his government would also seek to reshape how foreign investors engage with Kenya’s natural resources, at a time when critical minerals have become central to the global race for supplies needed in electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.

Resource nationalism, where governments assert greater ownership and control over raw materials within their borders, has gathered pace globally as demand has surged for minerals such as lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt and rare earths.

For Kenya, that debate has sharpened around strategic deposits, including the Mrima Hill area on the Indian Ocean coast, where estimates cited by officials have pointed to large reserves of rare earths and niobium, minerals used in technologies ranging from smartphones to jet engines.

Ruto said Kenya wants investment that creates local value and respects national interests, rather than a model in which raw materials are extracted with little benefit to citizens.

“Not a relationship based on extraction of our resources, but on investment that benefits us and benefits those who are investing,” he said. His comments come amid growing scrutiny in the country over mining licences, ownership structures and local-content requirements, with Kenyan officials increasingly arguing that past arrangements favoured foreign firms at the expense of the domestic economy.

The issue has also become entangled in wider geopolitical competition as major powers, including the United States and China, seek secure supplies of critical minerals and challenge rules that require local ownership or domestic participation in mining ventures.

Kenya has sought to position itself as both open to foreign capital and determined to secure better returns from its natural wealth, reflecting a broader trend across Africa and other commodity-producing regions where governments want more processing, jobs and tax revenue retained at home.

Ruto said Kenya would speak not only for itself but more broadly for Africa in demanding a fairer system of global governance.

“Kenya will lead the way on behalf of this continent,” he said.