From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Nigeria’s solid minerals sector has witnessed a dramatic transformation under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, with annual revenue surging six-fold to over ₦38 billion in 2024, up from a meagre ₦6 billion the previous year—despite receiving only 18% of its ₦29 billion budget allocation.
This remarkable leap, along with the attraction of more than $800 million in foreign processing investments, was disclosed by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, during a feature interview for an upcoming State House documentary commemorating President Tinubu’s second anniversary.
According to a statement issued by Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the minister attributed the sector’s revitalization to the administration’s strict policy of mandating local value addition and a tightened licensing regime. “These investments follow the administration’s insistence that no miner gets a license without a clear local processing plant. The days of exporting raw minerals from pit to port are over,” Alake reiterated.
Highlighting the wave of investor interest, the Minister listed several landmark projects: the $600 million lithium processing plant near the Kaduna-Niger border, set to be commissioned this quarter; a $200 million lithium refinery nearing completion on the outskirts of Abuja; and two additional processing plants in Nasarawa, scheduled for commissioning before the third quarter of 2025.
“When we resumed, the entire sector generated ₦6 billion annually. By the end of 2024, we hit ₦38 billion. And this was with just 18% of our ₦29 billion budgetary allocation released. It shows how effective our policy framework has been,” Alake stated.
The Minister further revealed that in the first quarter of 2025 alone, two regulatory agencies—the Mining Cadastral Office (MCO) and the Mines Inspectorate—recorded ₦6.9 billion and ₦7 billion in revenue, respectively. He projected 2025 to be a record-breaking year for the sector, noting that the current budget allocated ₦1 trillion for mineral exploration to generate internationally certified geological data.
“Exploration is key. When we came in, Nigeria had spent just $2 million on exploration, compared to $40 million in Sierra Leone, $148 million in Côte d’Ivoire, and over $300 million in South Africa. No serious investor will touch your sector without credible data,” Alake said.
He added that the focus is now on “turning our mineral wealth into domestic economic value—jobs, technology, and manufacturing.”
As part of the ministry’s seven-point agenda, Alake said aggressive steps have been taken to curb illegal mining and formalise artisanal activity. Over 300 illegal miners were arrested last year, with 150 prosecutions ongoing and nine convictions secured—including those of foreign nationals.
“We adopted both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies. While enforcement has yielded results through the Mining Marshals, we’re also empowering locals by formalising them into cooperatives, making them eligible for finance and revenue sharing,” he explained. Over 250 mining cooperatives have been established nationwide to integrate informal miners into the formal economy.
Nigeria now chairs the newly formed African Mineral Strategy Group, a continental bloc dedicated to promoting local value addition and fairer mineral trade deals across Africa. “This was a direct result of Nigeria’s position at the 2024 Future Minerals Conference in Riyadh. We’re leading Africa in saying: no more raw material exports without domestic beneficiation,” Alake said.
Reflecting on the sector’s growing appeal, he noted that top global players—including officials from the UK, US, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE—have expressed interest in Nigeria’s lithium and other critical minerals.
“The former British Deputy Prime Minister personally invited me to Downing Street to discuss their interest in Nigerian lithium,” Alake said. “The U.S. is also looking to diversify from China and sees Nigeria as a viable alternative.”
With new revenue streams, foreign direct investment, tightened regulation, and a clear path toward industrialisation, Nigeria’s solid minerals sector is now a pillar of the Tinubu administration’s economic diversification plan.
“Nigeria has not had it this good in the solid minerals sector. We’re restoring confidence, building data, enforcing the law, and returning value to Nigerians from their resources,” Alake declared.
He also highlighted the sector’s vibrancy, noting that the mining cadastral office received over 10,000 applications from local and foreign investors in the first quarter of 2025 alone.
“That shows you that this sector is vibrant. The vitality that we’ve introduced into this sector has never been done before the advent of President Tinubu’s administration,” he concluded.