{"id":21786,"date":"2026-01-14T00:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T00:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/21786\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T00:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T00:05:10","slug":"nigeria-pitches-600m-lithium-and-gold-projects-to-saudi-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/21786\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria pitches $600m lithium and gold projects to Saudi investors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Nigeria is positioning itself as Africa\u2019s next major minerals hub after rolling out a $600 million lithium processing plant and multiple gold refineries<\/a>, part of a strategy to make the country a key global supplier of materials needed for the green-energy transition.\n <\/p>\n

\n The PUNCH reports that Nigeria’s minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, disclosed the developments during a meeting with Saudi Arabia\u2019s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, ahead of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh.\n <\/p>\n

\n The projects, he said, represent the most concrete outcome yet of Nigeria\u2019s policy to end the export of raw minerals<\/a> and build domestic processing capacity.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cNigeria\u2019s value-addition policy is already yielding tangible results, with a gold refining plant of very high purity now operational in Lagos, three additional gold refineries at various stages of development, and a $600 million lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State ready for commissioning,\u201d Alake said\n <\/p>\n

\"Nigeria's <\/p>\n

Why Nigeria\u2019s mining pivot matters for Africa<\/p>\n

\n This new phase follows years of government efforts to dismantle illicit mining networks, particularly in gold-rich states such as Zamfara and Niger, where terrorist groups and criminal syndicates had turned illegal mining into a major funding source.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n Nigeria is estimated to hold about 757,000 ounces of gold, potentially worth up to $1.4 billion, with at least 17 states hosting notable deposits.\n <\/p>\n

\n The government has deployed security forces, tightened licensing, and strengthened oversight of mineral exports, gradually bringing more of the sector under formal control to attract international investment.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n Nigeria\u2019s mining push mirrors a broader African trend as countries race to tap demand for gold, lithium and other critical minerals driven by the global energy transition.\n <\/p>\n

\n While illegal mining persists in parts of Nigeria\u2019s northwest and central regions, Abuja\u2019s strategy which involves combining security enforcement, value addition and foreign partnerships, offers a potential model for resource-rich African economies seeking to move beyond raw exports.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nigeria is positioning itself as Africa\u2019s next major minerals hub after rolling out a $600 million lithium processing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[122],"class_list":{"0":"post-21786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nigeria","8":"tag-nigeria"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}