Nigeria Secures UN Facility to Boost Critical Minerals Value Chain
Nigeria has secured a UN study facility to boost its critical minerals value chain. The facility was secured by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, at the sidelines of the ongoing Investing in African Mining Indaba Conference holding in Cape Town, South Africa from Feb. 3 to Feb. 6.
This is made known by Alake’s Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Wednesday in Abuja. Tomori said the facility, funded by the Global Council for Critical Minerals, was secured to develop a roadmap for Nigeria’s critical value chain from extraction to beneficiation.
He described the council as a specialised organ of the Sustainable Energy for All, a United Nations Agency setup to implement the Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.
“The study to be carried out by UC Davis and supported by Core International, will examine the country’s critical minerals’ resource and reserve and set international best practices for value development to ensure that it contributes to value addition to grow the economy.
“One of the expected benefits is the development of an industrial sector for the local production of solar power and foreign exchange savings from the reduction of imports of solar power products,” he said.
According to Tomori, the minister thanked the UN for the facility, saying the move will enhance Nigeria’s solar power policy development. “Since we have the materials for the production of solar power, we should vigorously pursue the policy of stopping the importation of solar power products and localise the production in Nigeria.
“ We have a large market already, a lot of the products in Nigeria service the West African sub-region. So whatever material we are producing or manufacturing has a ready West African market,” Alake said. The minister assured the UN agency that since assuming office, President Bola Tinubu’s administration has taken steps to create a friendly and positive investment climate.
“We are putting in place a new security architecture that will ensure, not just the safety of the investor but also the protection of the mining environment.
“ We also had to re-draw the Community Development Agreement to ensure that the local populace benefit maximally from these developments, so that at the end of the day, it is a win-win for the investor, the populace and the state.” he said. Alake explained that when investors have a conducive environment to operate, their profit margins would increase, and they would pay their royalties and fulfil their obligations to the government.
2025 Mining Indaba had a ministerial symposium with theme: ‘Building a unified African Mining Value Chain: Enhancing Best Practice’.
The symposium focused on best practices across the mining value chain, including permit issuance, resource stewardship, and downstream value addition and featured expanded UN-style breakout sessions. The symposium continues to gather African government leaders, industry stakeholders, and key figures in the mining sector to tackle critical challenges and foster collaboration.
The conference, since its inception in 1994, is bringing together key stakeholders from around the world with the aim of driving innovation, promoting transparency, and collaborating to create a more resilient and prosperous future for the African mining sector
