The federal government says Nigeria is repositioning its solid minerals sector to move beyond the extraction and export of raw minerals, urging investors to support projects that promote local processing, manufacturing, and value addition.
Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, spoke on Thursday in Abuja at a press briefing ahead of the maiden ‘Nigeria NOW Global Investors’ expo 2026.
Alake was represented by Obadiah Nkom, director-general of the Mining Cadastre Office (MCO), an agency under the ministry.
He said the ministry’s strategy is to build a mining industry that creates jobs, supports industrialisation and strengthens linkages with other productive sectors of the economy.
“The ministry’s approach is to move the sector from simple extraction and export of raw minerals towards a system that supports processing, manufacturing, employment and stronger linkages with other parts of the economy,” he said.
“This requires patient capital, technical
