By Arabinrin Aderonke

Nigeria’s economic future may no longer depend solely on oil. Increasingly, the country’s vast mineral resources are emerging as a major driver of economic growth, industrialisation, and long-term prosperity. The recent announcement by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, at the 5th African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS), points to what could become one of the most important turning points in Nigeria’s economic diversification journey under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The discovery of high-grade deposits of gold, nickel, copper, lithium, platinum group metals, and rare earth elements in Kaduna State is a major development. This goes far beyond a geological breakthrough. It presents Nigeria with a rare opportunity to position itself as a leading destination for global mining and strategic mineral investments. With rising global demand for critical minerals used in electric vehicles, battery storage, clean energy systems, and advanced manufacturing, Nigeria is strategically placed to benefit from this global transition.
Alake’s speech at AFNIS reflected clarity, vision, and a strong understanding of the future of resource management. One of the strongest highlights of his address was his emphasis on local processing and value addition. This policy direction represents a major shift from the long-standing model where African countries export raw materials at low value and import finished products at significantly higher costs.

That old model has delivered limited economic value, weak industrial growth, and insufficient job creation across the continent. Nigeria’s new direction seeks to change this narrative. By prioritising local processing, refining, and manufacturing, the country stands to create thousands of jobs, deepen industrial capacity, encourage technology transfer, and retain more value within the domestic economy.

This policy direction is already producing visible results. Historically, Nigeria’s mining sector contributed less than 1 percent to GDP despite the country possessing over 44 commercially viable solid minerals across more than 500 locations. This reflects years of underinvestment, weak regulation, illegal mining, and policy inconsistency.

Today, however, the sector is beginning to witness renewed momentum. Multi-billion-dollar investments are flowing into the industry, including major lithium processing projects, iron ore development, and mineral refining facilities. This growing investor confidence is not accidental. It is a direct result of regulatory reforms, stronger policy implementation, and deliberate government efforts to reposition the sector.

Alake’s contributions to this transformation have been significant. His decision to revoke 3,000 mineral licences was bold, strategic, and necessary. The revocation was based on clear regulatory criteria, including dormancy of licenses, non-payment of royalties, default in statutory obligations, non-payment of annual service fees, etc. For years, speculative licence holders sat on valuable assets without meaningful development, slowing sector growth and discouraging serious investors. This clean-up exercise sent a strong message that Nigeria’s mining sector is entering a new era of accountability, discipline, and transparency.

Beyond regulation, Alake has also successfully elevated mining conversations from simple resource extraction to economic transformation. His focus has consistently remained on building an industry that supports revenue generation, industrial growth, and national development.
President Tinubu also deserves recognition for providing the political will needed to drive these reforms. Economic diversification remains central to his administration’s agenda, and the solid minerals sector is fast becoming a critical pillar of that strategy. Nigeria’s ratification of the African Mineral Strategy Group Charter further reinforces the administration’s commitment to regional cooperation, responsible mining, and long-term sustainable growth.

The future of mining in Nigeria is promising. If properly managed, the sector can significantly boost government revenue, create millions of direct and indirect jobs, strengthen foreign exchange earnings, and reduce the country’s dependence on oil. Countries such as Australia, Canada, and South Africa have successfully used mining as a major engine of economic growth. Nigeria has the resources, market potential, and strategic location to achieve similar success.

The Tinubu administration, with Alake driving reforms in the mining sector, is laying the foundation for meaningful economic transformation. The opportunity before Nigeria is enormous. The focus now must remain on policy consistency, investor confidence, and sustainable execution. If this momentum is maintained, mining could become one of the strongest pillars of Nigeria’s economic future.

Arabinrin Aderonke Atoyebi is an award-winning investigative journalist; 2016 finalist, CNN Africa Journalist Award; Peace and good governance advocate

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