The minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake has declared that Nigeria’s mining sector is shifting from informal extraction to structured industrialization under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, with reforms driving over $800 million in processing investments and ₦68.1 billion in 2025 revenue.
Dr. Alake disclosed this in a keynote at the Africa Commodities Conference and Exhibition, ACCE 2026, in Abuja
Represented by Etido Umoakpan, the Deputy Director of Investment Promotion and Minerals Trade at the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, the Minister said Nigeria is moving from raw exports to value-added industrial mining under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Alake highlighted Nigeria’s 44 commercially viable minerals, including gold, lithium, and iron ore, but stressed the past paradox: “enormous mineral potential, but weak formalisation; rising global demand, but inadequate geological confidence; abundant extraction, but limited beneficiation.”
He explained that the reforms are built on the 2007 Minerals and Mining Act and 2011 Regulations, modernized via digital cadastre (eMC+ platform), stricter title administration, and mandatory value-addition plans for mining leases introduced in November 2024.
“Nigeria would no longer be satisfied with a pit-to-port model,” Alake declared, noting the mining law is under review to match global standards.
According to him, investments followed swiftly: a $600 million lithium processing plant, $200 million refinery near Abuja, $50 million ASBA lithium plant in the FCT, $600 million Avatar project in Nasarawa, and a $1 billion iron ore-to-steel initiative in Kogi, totaling over $2 billion in midstream projects by May 2025.
Umoakpan, who represented the minister presented a document to the Executive Secretary SMDF who was represented by Dr. Nuhu Yahaya, a Special Adviser to the Executive Secretary SMDF.
The well researched reform proposition was presented on behalf of Mica Equity Allocation Limited which was designed for the training, expansion and establishment of larger numbers of cooperatives to enable the creation of larger jobs and employment opportunities for the youths at local government areas.
This is in line with the Seven Points Agenda of the Ministry and the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President.
On his part, the Conference Convener, Michael Akueche, said the reform drive would bring thousands of undocumented miners into regulated cooperatives to sanitise the sector and boost productivity.
It was gathered that many existing cooperatives remain too small and poorly equipped, with high-cost mining and processing equipment remaining beyond their reach.
To address this, the government is pushing to consolidate cooperatives into large clusters of 2,500 to 5,000 members per local government area—an approach expected to unlock economies of scale, attract investment, and justify state-backed support.
The initiative is projected to create jobs for thousands of youths in mining communities while curbing illegal mining and environmental damage.
Akueche made passionate appeal for the deployment of young professionals—including geologists, mining engineers, and health, safety, and environment experts—to manage the expanded cooperatives and improve operational standards.
