Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, on Thursday announced that two lithium processing factories are set to commence operations in the second quarter of 2025.

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    Alake made this known during the BusinessDay Solid Minerals Conference, themed “Building a Resilient Mining Sector in Nigeria: Leveraging Diplomacy, International Partnership and Regulatory Coherence.”

    Highlighting recent milestones in the sector, Alake said:
    “The two lithium factories will be commissioned this second quarter of 2025, with the first, located in Abuja, investing $700 million, and another one in Nasarawa, investing $600 million.”

    Dr Dele Alake (News Central TV)
    Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake

    He also outlined efforts to formalise illegal mining activities, revealing that over 250 mining cooperatives have been established within a year, with about 50 joining each month.
    According to him, these initiatives have generated approximately 27,000 jobs for artisanal miners across 90 mine sites reclaimed by the Mining Marshals.

    Alake further noted that Nigeria’s Community Development Agreement (CDA) framework is now being adopted by other African nations.
    “These African countries are now replicating these plans and incorporating it into their own system,” he said.

    He credited the Tinubu administration with introducing innovative technologies in the sector and revealed the establishment of the Nigeria Mining Company (NMC), a Special Purpose Vehicle to drive public-private investments in solid minerals.
    “At the inception of this administration, we discovered that Nigeria did not have a vehicle to help us have a slice of the solid minerals pie. The Nigerian people did not have a stake in the sector,” Alake said.

    Explaining the ownership structure of the new NMC, he stated:
    “Nigerians will get 25% investment, the Federal Government will own 25%, and the private sector will hold 50% equity in the company.
    We are recalibrating our own structure, which is being put together as we speak.
    So, if the private sector is owning 50% equity, you can be rest assured that the private sector will bring its influence to ensure that the company is run in a more effective and efficient manner.”

    Reflecting on the sector’s past, he criticised the long-standing neglect of solid minerals and excessive import dependency:
    “Nigeria had ignored the solid minerals sector for decades and went into consumption freak — importing toothpicks and orange juice.
    We had to block the leakages and pains associated with those policies, but the pains are not permanent.”

    Alake also disclosed that President Tinubu approved a significant budgetary allocation for the Solid Minerals Ministry in 2025, supporting increased exploration activities.
    “Only yesterday I signed an MoU with South Africa to promote Nigeria’s solid mineral sector, with Nigeria becoming an indisputable solid mineral nation in Africa,” he added.

    He reiterated the government’s stance on value addition:
    “We have resolved that we will not license anyone without strong local value addition, which led to the formation of the Africa Solid Mineral Group, of which I was elected Chairman.”

    “We are showcasing Nigeria as a strong solid mineral nation in Africa on the back of the efficacy of our own solid minerals policy. They are also copying Nigeria’s ASM mining policy. We are very confident that in the near future, we shall begin to reap the benefit,” Alake concluded.

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