Nigeria emerges as Africa’s minerals powerhouse with lithium plants, gold refineries — FG
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Abdullateef Fowewe
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has claimed that Nigeria is rapidly positioning itself as Africa’s leading hub for critical minerals due to new lithium processing plants and operational gold refineries.
Speaking ahead of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh, Alake met with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, to discuss deepening bilateral ties.
Segun Tomori, Special Assistant on Media to Alake, shared the details in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Nigeria’s value-addition push is delivering results, Alake noted.
“A gold refining plant of very high purity now is operational in Lagos, with three additional gold refineries at various stages of development, and a $600 million lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State ready for commissioning,” he said.
He praised Saudi Arabia’s role in fostering global collaboration through the FMF, adding, “There are areas of comparative advantage where Saudi Arabia excels and others where Nigeria has strengths. We are keen on structuring agreements that will enable us engage meaningfully and constructively. Priority areas include capacity building, training of mining professionals, technology transfer, and particularly exploration, where Saudi Arabia has demonstrated some expertise.”
Alake highlighted Nigeria’s vast reserves of critical minerals and rare earth elements, essential for the global green energy transition.
He stressed mutual benefits in areas like mineral traceability, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards, and mine-pit remediation.
“Mineral traceability boosts investor confidence and should form a core component of any partnership, alongside clear implementation timelines and robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms,” the statement reads partly.
The ministers reviewed progress from a joint working group with the Saudi Chamber of Commerce, formed after FMF 2025.
Alake said its report is ready for presentation at this forum.
Al-Khorayef reaffirmed Nigeria as a key ally and called for a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
He proposed that the working group develop a draft MOU based on previous engagements for possible signing on the sidelines of the conference.
He also urged Nigeria to leverage the FMF platform to showcase investment opportunities in its mining sector to Saudi investors.”
