Over $2.6bn mining investments recorded under Tinubu administration, says Alake

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, says Nigeria has recorded over $2.6 billion in mining-related investments under the administration of President Bola Tinubu following reforms introduced in the sector.

Alake spoke on Thursday in Abuja at a joint stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting organised by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development for the North-Central zone. The meeting focused on aligning solid minerals operations with the 2025 Tax Reform Act.

The minister said Nigeria had begun the difficult but necessary transition from a consumption-driven economy to productive industrial growth, noting that the mining sector was once a major pillar of the nation’s economy before the discovery of oil.

According to him, successive administrations failed to take tough economic decisions, leaving the country borrowing to pay salaries and spending heavily on recurrent expenditure and fuel subsidies before 2023.

Alake said President Tinubu moved swiftly to block leakages, reform critical sectors and reposition the economy for long-term growth, with the solid minerals sector now playing a key role in the administration’s diversification agenda.

He disclosed that Nigeria was witnessing significant investments in mineral processing and local value addition, including a $600 million lithium processing factory awaiting commissioning in Nasarawa State and another $200 million lithium facility near Abuja.

“We now have a $600 million lithium processing factory awaiting commissioning in Nasarawa State and another $200 million lithium facility near Abuja. Gold processing plants and other mineral beneficiation factories are also springing up across the country and our people are being employed,” Alake said.

The minister added that over 300 illegal mining operators had been arrested, more than 150 prosecutions were ongoing, and over 100 illegal mining sites had been recovered. He noted that the Federal Government’s local value addition policy had attracted more than $2.6 billion in mining-related investments within the last two years.