{"id":24761,"date":"2025-04-18T08:46:21","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T08:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/?p=24761"},"modified":"2025-04-18T09:00:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T09:00:53","slug":"lithium-investment-nigeria-secures-1-3bn-amid-growing-investor-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/?p=24761","title":{"rendered":"Lithium Investment: Nigeria Secures $1.3bn Amid Growing Investor Confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Aliyu Nasir<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Nigerian government has finalized a $1.3 billion deal with investors to establish two lithium processing plants by mid-2025, signaling renewed confidence in Africa\u2019s largest oil producer due to recent economic reforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The investment is led by The African Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lithium, a key component in batteries, glass, and aluminum production, is predominantly mined in Australia and Chile. The project is expected to generate $1.2 billion annually, contribute $25 billion over its lifespan, and provide $8 billion in foreign exchange earnings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis investment validates our reforms and aligns with SMDF and AFC\u2019s goal of boosting private-sector-led mining ventures,\u201d said Dele Alake, Nigeria\u2019s solid minerals minister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also announced the Nigerian Mining Company (NMC), a public-private venture with 50% private ownership to ensure efficiency.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alake lamented Nigeria\u2019s historical underinvestment in solid minerals, noting that smaller African nations like Senegal and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire outspent Nigeria on exploration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur over-reliance on oil led us to neglect sectors like mining and agriculture,\u201d he admitted.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reforms have already created 27,000 jobs for artisanal miners, and Nigeria\u2019s Community Development Agreement (CDA) model is being adopted by other African countries, including South Africa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nonye Ayeni, CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), emphasized the need to harness minerals like lithium, zinc, and gemstones for export. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She announced a new Solid Minerals Department to support value addition and financing for miners but acknowledged infrastructure and regulatory challenges.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Janet Adeyemi of the Women Miners Association urged stricter enforcement of environmental regulations, including mandatory Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and ESG reporting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cInvestors prefer countries with strong legal safeguards,\u201d she noted.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Business confidence in Nigeria has risen for three consecutive months in 2025, per the NESG-Stanbic IBTC index, reflecting optimism about ongoing reforms.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aliyu Nasir The Nigerian government has finalized a $1.3 billion deal with investors to establish two lithium processing plants by mid-2025, signaling renewed confidence in Africa\u2019s largest oil producer due to recent economic reforms. The investment is led by The African Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF). Lithium, a key component in batteries, glass, and aluminum production, is predominantly mined in Australia and Chile. The project is expected to generate $1.2 billion annually, contribute $25 billion over its lifespan, and provide $8 billion in foreign exchange earnings. \u201cThis investment validates our reforms and aligns with SMDF and AFC\u2019s goal of boosting private-sector-led mining ventures,\u201d said Dele Alake, Nigeria\u2019s solid minerals minister. He also announced the Nigerian Mining Company (NMC), a public-private venture with 50% private ownership to ensure efficiency. Alake lamented Nigeria\u2019s historical underinvestment in solid minerals, noting that smaller African nations like Senegal and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire outspent Nigeria on exploration. \u201cOur over-reliance on oil led us to neglect sectors like mining and agriculture,\u201d he admitted. The reforms have already created 27,000 jobs for artisanal miners, and Nigeria\u2019s Community Development Agreement (CDA) model is being adopted by other African countries, including South Africa. Nonye Ayeni, CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), emphasized the need to harness minerals like lithium, zinc, and gemstones for export. She announced a new Solid Minerals Department to support value addition and financing for miners but acknowledged infrastructure and regulatory challenges. Janet Adeyemi of the Women Miners Association urged stricter enforcement of environmental regulations, including mandatory Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and ESG reporting. \u201cInvestors prefer countries with strong legal safeguards,\u201d she noted. Business confidence in Nigeria has risen for three consecutive months in 2025, per the NESG-Stanbic IBTC index, reflecting optimism about ongoing reforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24761"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24764,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24761\/revisions\/24764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}