Chidimma Uchegbu – Abuja
The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development is partnering with relevant agencies to ensure financing, infrastructure, security, and technical support are aligned with national mining priorities.
The Minister, Dr Dele Alake stated this at the National Association of Securities Dealers and the Solid Minerals Development Fund SMDF, at a game-changing webinar, themed “Unlocking Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Potentials Through the Capital Market.
The Minister who was represented by his Special Adviser on mining and policy, Amina Waziri emphasized that the capital market is a critical pillar in the journey toward a sustainable mining sector.
Alake stressed that through the capital market, Nigeria can mobilize long-term financing for exploration and project development, support junior mining companies to raise funds, scale operations, facilitate securitization and monetization of geological assets, and channel institutional capital into infrastructure and processing hubs.
The Minister who commended the organisers for the initiatives added that this webinar marks the beginning of a broader national conversation on using structured capital to unlock mineral wealth.
Dr. Alake emphasized that the Ministry remains committed to inclusive and strategic stakeholder engagement.
“We are open to ideas, partnerships and joint efforts that can advance the collective good of the mining industry” Dr. Alake added.
On her part, the Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) Hajia Fatimah Shinkafi said the agency has unveiled a 3-pronged funding strategy to unlock the untapped potential of Nigeria’s mining sector.
The Executive Secretary represented by her Technical Adviser, Abdulmajeed Oyeyemi Amussah explained that the strategy targets early-stage mining projects that are currently unattractive to commercial lenders and aims to de-risk investments and fast-track the development of Nigeria’s vast solid mineral resources.
“The SMDF is deploying three distinct funding vehicles: Growth Fund, Opportunities Fund, and Research Fund” she emphasized.
She noted that the Growth Fund will stimulate early exploration and provide project development facilities, while the Opportunities Fund will accelerate project development and optimize existing mining operations.
Hajia Shinkafi added that the Research Fund would support enabling infrastructure and policy innovation to create a favorable ecosystem for investment.
The Executive Secretary noted that many projects in Nigeria are stuck at Stage 1 and 2 exploration and feasibility which limits their attractiveness to financiers.
“Despite over ₦10 billion being available for mining development, credit distribution remains skewed, with agriculture and transportation getting the bulk of bank financing, and mining barely making a dent”
According to her, unlocking the potential of Nigeria’s solid minerals will require innovative financing approaches that align with government priorities and private sector needs.
In his contribution, a representative from the Nigeria Security and Exchange Commission, Bola Ajomale, stated that solid minerals have the potential to transform Nigeria’s economy if properly harnessed.
“The potential in the country is critical not just for the capital market but for the economic development” Ajomale stated.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Plc, Mr. Eguarekhide Longe, stressed that unveiling a bold capital market will strategically unlock Nigeria’s solid minerals wealth.
According to him, the strategy involves leveraging the capital market to mobilize strategic investment into the sector through the National Digital Securities Platform (N-DSP), a blockchain-based platform for listing, trading, clearing, and settlement of tokenized securities.
Longe insisted that Nigeria’s solid minerals sector remains one of the most underexploited despite its massive potential to contribute to GDP and create jobs.
He added that the NASD/SMDF partnership is focusing on multi-asset security tokenization, encompassing equity, debt instruments, and commodity-backed securities, to unlock capital for early-stage mining and support exploration, processing, and production.
