President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed a new agreement between Nigeria and the United States aimed at deepening American investment in Nigeria’s mining sector and unlocking the potential of the country’s mineral resources, which he estimated at about $700 billion.
The agreement was signed in New York by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, and the United States Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau.
Tinubu, in a statement posted on his official X account, said his administration remained open to international partnerships capable of delivering tangible benefits to Nigerians and creating opportunities across the country.
The President said his administration had deliberately shifted Nigeria’s mining policy away from the extraction and export of raw minerals, with greater emphasis now being placed on local processing, refining and value addition.
According to him, the government has tied new mining licences to local value addition while taking steps to attract investments into mineral processing and refining within Nigeria.
“From the beginning, we made a deliberate choice to move Nigeria away from simply extracting and exporting raw minerals,” Tinubu said.
He said the policy was already yielding results, with new processing plants being established, billions of dollars in investment commitments entering the sector and growing investor interest in Nigeria’s critical minerals.
Tinubu said the government’s next objective was to deepen development across the entire mining value chain, from exploration and extraction to processing, refining and manufacturing.
He stressed that Nigerians must remain central to the benefits generated from the country’s mineral resources.
The President said the development of the mining sector should create employment opportunities for geologists, engineers, technicians and other professionals, while also equipping young Nigerians with new skills.
He added that local contractors, transporters and suppliers should benefit from increased mining activities and have opportunities to build businesses around the sector.
Tinubu also linked the expansion of mineral processing to the development of mining communities, saying processing activities closer to where minerals are found could stimulate industrial development, infrastructure and improved livelihoods.
The President said Nigeria also intended to change the nature of the products it exports by processing more minerals locally and increasing the production of higher-value goods for international markets.
According to him, the agreement with the United States would build on reforms and progress already recorded in Nigeria’s mining sector.
“We welcome partners who bring capital, technology and expertise and are prepared to create value with us here in Nigeria,” Tinubu said.
He maintained that Nigeria’s mineral wealth should translate into jobs for Nigerians, stronger local businesses and greater prosperity for communities where mineral resources are located.
Tinubu said this approach would help the government turn its mining-sector reforms into economic opportunities for Nigerians.
The agreement comes amid the Federal Government’s broader efforts to diversify Nigeria’s economy and attract greater investment into the solid minerals sector as part of its economic reform agenda.
