World Energy Council Nigeria Chief Executive Bala Wunti has warned that countries seeking secure defence, energy and technology systems cannot depend on a single country for the processing of critical minerals.
Wunti spoke at the 2026 Concordia Annual Summit in New York during a panel on critical minerals and shifting global supply chains.
He argued that strategic competition in energy and technology was increasingly moving from hydrocarbons towards minerals such as lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements.
According to Wunti, the most important vulnerability in the supply chain is not necessarily extraction but processing and refining capacity.
He said China’s strong position in rare earth, graphite and cobalt processing illustrated the strategic importance of the midstream segment of the minerals value chain.
Wunti also argued that resource-rich countries such as Nigeria needed to move beyond broad geological potential and develop projects capable of attracting commercial capital.
He identified reliable geological data, clearly defined projects, infrastructure, predictable regulation, credible developers and viable routes to market as essential conditions for bankable investment.
The former NNPC executive said Nigeria’s experience of exporting crude oil while importing refined products offered a warning against repeating the same pattern in solid minerals.
He said the Nigerian Solid Minerals Company was intended to help transform mineral potential into investable projects with clear commercial propositions.
Wunti also supported closer cooperation among the United States, allied mineral-producing countries and African processing centres, arguing that supply-chain resilience required partnership rather than economic isolation.
He said governments could reduce risks and improve project bankability, but private capital would still require credible prices, stable fiscal rules and dependable buyers before committing at scale.
