- •Nigeria, Japan seal deals to boost mining investment
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has said any company that invests in Nigeria’s solid mineral sector will record good returns on its investment.
The minister described the nation’s mining sectors as highly profitable.
Alake said this in an audience with officials of the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) on the sidelines of the ninth Tokyo International Conference for African Trade and Development (TICAD 9) in Yokohama, Japan.
Following the minister’s meetings, Nigeria and Japan expressed their readiness to align investment plans to unlock Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.
Alake assured Japanese investors that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reforms, including subsidy removal, a stabilised exchange rate, and major rail, road, and waterway projects, have created a more enabling environment for businesses.
“In terms of economies of scale, producing and processing the critical minerals you need in Nigeria is cheaper and more profitable as the costs of production are lower,” he said.
The minister noted that recent electricity sector reforms would enable industries to generate and manage their own power supply.
He also assured Japanese mining companies of benefiting from tax holidays and duty waivers on equipment, while urging them to invest in local processing of minerals before export, in line with Nigeria’s value-addition policy.
The meetings also featured the Nigeria Solid Minerals Company (NSMC), represented by its CEO, Martins Imonitie. The NSMC, designed to take equity stakes in mining projects, is expected to serve as a trusted partner to strengthen investor confidence.
A statement yesterday in Abuja by Alake’s Special Adviser on Media, Kehinde Bamigbetan, said the meetings focused on attracting Japanese mining companies into Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.
According to the statement, the President of JOGMEC, Mr. Michio Daito, acknowledged Nigeria’s rich mineral deposits but stressed the need for more clarity on economic conditions before Japanese firms commit to large-scale investments.
Daito noted that some issues, such as power supply, tax incentives, labour, free trade zones, and infrastructure are critical to reducing investment risks.
Explaining that Japanese mining firms rely on JOGMEC to make investment decisions in foreign countries, the organisation’s president sought to have information on the state of infrastructure in Nigeria that supports mining.
Earlier engagements with Japanese trading giants, Mitsubishi Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, and Mitsui & Company, had signaled growing interest in Nigeria’s mining industry, with final commitments expected after JOGMEC’s approval.
The meeting concluded with both parties agreeing to strengthen technical exchanges and foster direct collaboration between JOGMEC and NSMC to accelerate concrete investment outcomes.
