The minister of solid minerals development, Dr Dele Alake, has affirmed that the establishment of lithium processing and gold refining plants across Nigeria is positioning the country as Africa’s leading minerals hub and a critical global partner in minerals essential for the transition to green energy.
Alake stated this at a meeting with the the Saudi Arabian minister of industry and mineral resources, Mr Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, ahead of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to Alake, Nigeria’s value-addition policy is already yielding tangible results, with a gold refining plant of very high purity now 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.
According to a statement on Tuesday by Segun Tomori, Alake’s special assistant on media, the minister commended Saudi Arabia for its pivotal role in expanding opportunities for collaboration among governments across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe through the Future Minerals Forum, saying that Nigeria is eager to deepen its partnership with the country by leveraging on areas of comparative advantage in solid minerals development.
“There are areas of comparative advantage where Saudi Arabia excels and others where Nigeria has strengths. We are keen on structuring agreements that would 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 stated.
He further noted that Nigeria’s vast landmass is endowed with abundant critical minerals and rare earth elements required by the global economy, underscoring the importance of leveraging the FMF platform to fine-tune actionable partnerships based on fairness equity and mutual benefit.
While recalling engagements following the FMF 2025, Alake revealed that a joint working group comprising the Nigerian delegation and the Saudi Chamber of Commerce has been active over the past year, adding that its report is ready and would be presented before the close of the current forum.
In his remarks, his Saudi counterpart, Al-Khorayef reaffirmed Nigeria’s status as a longstanding ally and agreed on the need for a practical and actionable agreement on solid minerals development even as 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, while encouraging African countries to adopt advanced technologies in mining development.
