Investment
By Kingsley Okoye
Abuja, Sept 2,2026(NAN) The Executive Director, Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI), Dr. Olumide Abimbola, says Nigeria must move beyond exporting raw minerals to build industries, and jobs in critical solid minerals investments.
Abimbola stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at the opening of a High-Level Stakeholders Conference on “Advancing Nigeria’s Green Industrialisation Through Critical Minerals”.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), reports that the conference was organised by APRI, in partnership with the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) and the Ford Foundation.
He said the conference was timely, because the global energy and digital transitions have created enormous demand for minerals such as copper, lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and rare earth elements.
He said that geopolitical tensions and supply-chain concerns has made access to the minerals, a matter of economic and national security.
Abimbola noted that governments across Europe, North America, Asia and the Gulf were developing critical mineral strategies and negotiating new partnerships.
He said APRI’s mapping of Africa’s green mineral partnerships identified nearly 100 agreements involving African countries and international partners, most signed in the past decade.
According to him, the focus should be on what kind of economy can be built around the minerals, whether it can support new industries, create decent jobs, and strengthen technological capabilities.
He said the bigger focus should be to attract investment in power, infrastructure and manufacturing.
The APRI boss said Nigerian businesses must participate meaningfully in the value chains, and communities where minerals are found, adding that the investments must see tangible improvements in the lives of the people.
“If we do not get the institutions, policies, financing, infrastructure and governance right, we risk simply replacing one extractive model with another.
“We could move from exporting crude oil to exporting raw minerals, while most of the processing, technology, manufacturing and economic value continue to be created elsewhere, that cannot be our ambition,” he said.
He said APRI’s work on critical minerals sought to support African countries to industrialise based on their resources.
He cited the institute’s flagship africa’s development agenda for its green minerals project and its roadmap for Nigeria’s critical minerals strategy project, which had engaged actors in five mineral-rich states.
Abimbola said the conference was designed around three areas.
He listed the areas to include Nigeria’s minerals in a shifting global order, the domestic ecosystem for green industrialisation, and community and environmental rights.
He said that mining communities must not bear the environmental and social costs, while value is created elsewhere.
The APRI executive director also acknowledged the leadership of the Ministries and MDAs and thanked the Ford Foundation for their partnership.
The Director-General, National Council on Climate Change, (NCCC) Dr. Omotenioye Majekodunmi, said Nigeria must be deliberate in identifying where it has competitive advantage and building domestic capacity around.
She said the objective should not simply be more mining but more Nigerian value created from mining.
Majekodunmi stressed that green minerals must actually be green, emphasising the contradiction in producing minerals for clean technologies through highly polluting extraction.
She said as global players increasingly scrutinised carbon footprint and traceability, responsible production would become a matter of market access and competitiveness.
She said that Nigeria has an opportunity to build differently from the beginning using cleaner power, stronger environmental safeguards and credible standards.
She said climate ambition must be connected to capital, as processing plants, clean power infrastructure and manufacturing facilities required significant investments that government alone cannot finance.
She said NCCC’s role is to provide certainty on Capital Flows by aligning climate commitments with investment opportunities and strengthening frameworks for climate finance and carbon markets.
On communities, Majekodunmi said people must see tangible benefits from the transition, citing lessons from the UNCCD conference in Mongolia.
“We cannot build a green economy that looks impressive in Abuja but leaves communities around mining and industrial sites.”
She said a just transition means communities can point to skilled jobs, better roads, improved power and increased incomes.
She urged international partners to see Nigeria as a place to build processing and manufacturing, not just a source of raw materials.
She also called on Nigerian businesses to own meaningful parts of the green industrial economy and move from conversations to bankable projects.
Majekodunmi thanked APRI and all partners for bringing government, industry, development partners and civil society together around the agenda.
“The minerals beneath our soil are an opportunity but the real measure of success will be what we build above ground with them.
“The industries, the businesses, the skills, the jobs and the prosperity, that is the green industrialisation Nigeria should pursue.”
The Regional Director of Ford Foundation, Dr. Chichi Aniagolu-Okoye, said Nigeria stands at a historical moment to redefine its economy through critical minerals
She said that for decades, Nigerian economy relied heavily on hydrocarbons but the global shift toward clean energy was no longer a distant projection but an active and aggressive reality reshaping global trade.
She said Nigeria is uniquely positioned for this shift because its soil holds vast, largely untapped deposits of lithium, copper, magnesium and bauxite
“The exact minerals required to power electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage, Nigeria’s vision must extend beyond supplying raw materials. ”
According to her, policies must now strictly prioritise domestic value addition through processing, beneficiation and manufacturing within Nigeria’s borders.
The priorities, she said, is by building local lithium processing plants, utilising advanced satellite mapping for precision exploration, and enforcing local content laws.
“Nigeria can create a sustainable industrial ecosystem that generates high-scale jobs and retains economic wealth at home,” she said.
KC/CHOM
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Edited by Chioma Ugboma
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