Nigeria and the United States have signed a cooperation framework aimed at increasing American investment in Nigeria’s solid minerals industry.
The agreement covers geological data, exploration, mineral processing, infrastructure and technical capacity and is intended to support business-to-business transactions across the mineral value chain.
Solid Minerals Development Minister Dele Alake signed for Nigeria, while US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau signed for Washington at Nigeria’s Mission House in New York.
Alake said the government wanted the agreement to mark a shift away from exporting raw minerals towards processing, manufacturing, job creation and higher domestic value retention.
He said the framework could help attract investment into Nigeria’s estimated $700 billion mineral resource base while supporting the country’s economic diversification strategy.
The minister stressed that the agreement would only have significance if both countries moved quickly from signatures to bankable projects and commercially viable transactions.
Landau said the United States regarded Nigeria as an important regional power and wanted to deepen economic cooperation.
He said both governments intended to build on recent bilateral engagement and use the framework to support investment and shared prosperity.
The success of the initiative will depend on project execution, regulatory certainty, infrastructure and the ability to convert prospective mineral resources into commercially viable projects.
