Nigeria and Turkey have signed a memorandum of understanding on solid minerals cooperation at the Istanbul Natural Resources Summit, with Turkey’s energy minister signaling that Ankara’s interest extended well beyond mining to include renewed energy contracts and industrial investment across Nigeria’s broader economic landscape.
Nigeria’s minister of solid minerals development said the agreement would allow Nigeria to draw on Turkey’s technological expertise in mining exploration, digitization, licensing systems, and capacity building as it continued to reform and attract investment to a sector he said had been significantly transformed over the past three years. He said President Tinubu had fully backed efforts to deepen bilateral ties with Turkey in both mining and energy.
He disclosed that more than 300 illegal mining operators, including foreign nationals, had been arrested, more than 150 prosecutions were ongoing, and more than 100 illegal mining sites had been recovered and returned to their legitimate license owners. He said these enforcement actions were part of a broader effort to restore investor confidence and demonstrate that the federal government was committed to lawful mining operations.
Turkey’s energy and natural resources minister described the partnership as strategic and timely, saying global energy security increasingly demanded stronger international cooperation. He said Turkish companies were eager to invest in Nigeria and that several industrial manufacturers were interested in expanding into the country beyond mining, particularly in energy and hydrocarbons. He said he would appreciate the Nigerian minister conveying to President Tinubu Turkey’s desire to renew energy cooperation and contracts with Nigeria.
Nigeria’s minister said the international community had to work seriously toward global peace as a prerequisite for sustainable energy security, warning that ongoing conflicts were undermining the economic imperatives and cooperative frameworks that the energy transition required.
