The tougher rhetoric, part of a wider push across Africa to capture more value from refining and manufacturing, comes as oil and mineral producers gain leverage from commodity prices driven up by the Iran war: Oligui Nguema said he had instructed Gabon’s oil minister to raise output and capitalize on higher prices.

But the opportunity is uneven. Gabon’s mature oil sector produces about 227,000 barrels a day and has limited room for rapid expansion. Nigeria’s potential upside is larger, though infrastructure bottlenecks remain acute despite the launch of the $20 billion Dangote Refinery, which still does not fully meet domestic fuel demand.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame captured the mood among business and political leaders gathered at the opening plenary of the forum a day earlier urging Africans to stop accepting deal terms set outside the continent. “We can’t just be people waiting to be ripped off,” Kagame said. “We must be able to say no.”