Nigeria is showcasing its burgeoning mining sector with the ambitious goal of attracting up to $500 million in foreign investments.
Mining exploration in Nigeria remains underfunded, with many projects stuck at the exploration phase due to limited financing for design, construction, and production. High financial risks and a lack of expertise are major obstacles to private sector engagement.
Despite these challenges, Nigeria is courting South African investors. During a four-day roadshow launched on November 6 at the Sandton Convention Centre in South Africa, Nigeria's High Commission gained support from South African investment bank Rosebank Capital to promote projects focused on solid minerals.
Nigerians aim to mobilize foreign direct investments, leveraging their country's wealth of mineral resources such as gold, tantalite, limestone, and lithium, with a mining potential estimated at $700 billion. However, this vast natural wealth remains largely untapped.
“We are targeting at least $500 million in initial investments, and things are progressing very well. We are already discussing a single project worth $200 million,” stated Niyi Oloruntoba, CEO of Rosebank Capital, offering hope to Nigerians.
“The solid minerals sector presents Nigeria with a tremendous opportunity to diversify its economy. By developing this sector, Nigeria could add $25 billion to its GDP over the next decade and create up to three million jobs,” assured Yemi Kale, a former director of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and now Chief Economist at the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim).
Despite these promising prospects, Kale highlighted that efforts to diversify Nigeria's economy face structural challenges, including a lack of coherent national planning and insufficient investment in non-oil sectors. The country remains heavily reliant on crude oil exports, which account for approximately 90% of export earnings and over half of government revenue.
Amid declining oil revenues, Nigeria is seeking to diversify its income sources, a move often hindered by a lack of political will. Nevertheless, Mary Ogbe, Permanent Secretary for the Solid Minerals Sector, remains optimistic: “We aim to attract global investors through a series of policy initiatives, including tax exemptions for mining equipment and a guarantee of 100% profit repatriation to investors’ home countries.”
To attract investors, Nigeria is developing essential infrastructure and organizing artisanal miners into cooperatives, granting them small-scale exploitation licenses to formalize the sector.
Nere Emiko, founder and CEO of Kian Smith, does not regret investing in Nigeria. “If we’ve been here this long, it’s not all doom and gloom,” he remarked, pointing to the investment opportunities within Nigeria’s 44 identified minerals.
