Chidimma Uchegbu -Abuja
Nigeria has offered investors a range of incentives, including seamless profit repatriation and duty waivers on imported mining machinery, during the Resourcing Tomorrow annual exhibition and conference held recently in London.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, who led the Nigerian delegation, presented the package in a keynote address, signalling to global mining companies that the country is open for investment.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Minister disclosed that at the opening ceremony, Alake highlighted Nigeria’s achievements in mineral processing, noting that over $2 billion had flowed into lithium and rare earth projects over the past two years.
He attributed this foreign investment to the Tinubu administration’s policy on value addition, which aims to curb the export of raw minerals and encourage local beneficiation.
“Since last year, companies such as Canmax Technologies, Jiuling Lithium, Avatar New Energy Nigeria Limited, and Asba Group have collectively invested over $1.3 billion in lithium processing projects across Nigeria. These are not speculative ventures; they are bricks, mortar, and machinery,” Alake said.
He also detailed ongoing projects, including a $50 million lithium processing plant near Abuja, the first in a network of industrial clusters spanning Nasarawa, Kogi, Kwara, and Ebonyi states. Additionally, the groundbreaking of a $400 million rare earth plant by the Hasetins Group on November 19 marked a milestone in Nigeria’s rare earth processing industry, with completion expected in 15 months. Plans for a multi-billion-dollar iron ore-to-steel project using advanced technology are also underway.
To ensure sector security, the Minister highlighted the role of Mining Marshals, tasked with enforcing mining laws and protecting operators, complemented by satellite technology to track operations nationwide.
Alake introduced the Nigeria Solid Minerals Company (NSMC) as the government’s preferred partner for joint ventures, leveraging assets inherited from the Nigerian Mining Corporation. “The NSMC embodies our philosophy of shared prosperity through shared investment. It functions as a sovereign partner, co-investing in high-value projects, de-risking exploration, and catalyzing downstream processing,” he explained.
Reassuring over 1,000 conference participants, Alake said the government has prepared the solid minerals sector for investment, with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency and exploration investors having completed geological mapping for over 80 percent of the country. He also noted that the Tinubu administration has finalized the Solid Minerals Export Guidelines to align Nigeria’s export system with global standards on traceability, environment, and governance.
Addressing concerns over global supply chain disruptions, Alake advocated local value addition as a solution. He highlighted the Africa Minerals Support Group, formed by African mining ministers to influence local beneficiation policies, and cited domestic examples of state-run mining companies fostering a sense of ownership.
The Minister also pointed to the signing of 427 community development agreements between Nigerian communities and mining firms as a cornerstone strategy to embed economic, social, and governance principles in the country’s mining sector.
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