Minister denies claims Nigeria sold $700bn worth of solid minerals to US

Thursday, October 29, 2026 - The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has dismissed reports that Nigeria sold $700bn worth of solid minerals to the United States, insisting that the bilateral agreement was designed to attract investment and technology rather than transfer ownership of the country’s natural resources.

Alake spoke in Abuja while inaugurating the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector, following a strategic cooperation framework established between both countries during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head of the Press and Public Relations Department of the ministry, Kania Maliki Andeyaba, the minister said the memorandum of understanding signed with the US was a government-to-government platform intended to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian operators.

“The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.

“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands.

“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers,” the statement quoting Alake declared.

The minister described reports that the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s mineral resources and security architecture as false, arguing that the agreement was intended to promote mutually beneficial economic cooperation.

He said Nigeria was seeking to change its historical position in global mineral transactions, where the country supplied raw materials while other countries captured much of the value through processing and manufacturing.

“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transition to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm, you bring your capital, expertise and technology to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation. The investor gains, Nigeria gains,” Alake said.

He noted that Nigeria had operated a mono-product economy largely dependent on crude oil, while its solid minerals resources were often extracted and exported without adequate local processing.

The minister said the Federal Government had consequently made local processing a requirement for investors seeking mineral titles, in a bid to retain more value within the country, promote industrialisation and create employment.

According to him, the policy has encouraged the establishment of processing facilities, including what he described as West Africa’s largest lithium processing plant, recently commissioned in Nasarawa State by Vice-President Kashim Shettima.

Alake said the government was also working to strengthen cooperation among African countries through the African Minerals Strategy Group, while positioning Nigeria to benefit from growing global demand for minerals used in clean energy technologies.

He attributed renewed investor interest to economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu, saying policies that provide security of tenure and allow investors to repatriate profits were helping to improve confidence in the sector.

The minister charged members of the newly inaugurated committee to identify investment opportunities, coordinate implementation and ensure that the agreement produced measurable results.

He said the committee’s assignment was central to the President’s ambition of building a $1tn economy, adding that Nigeria needed to move beyond extracting minerals to developing industries that could process and manufacture products from them.

In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the committee would translate growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilisation.

The US Embassy’s Economic Officer, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump had prioritised energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals in the direction given to American embassies.

Baas said the US was seeking partnerships that would secure critical mineral supply chains while allowing partner countries to benefit economically from their resources.

“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.

His remarks highlighted the potential for the bilateral relationship to extend beyond mineral extraction into technology infrastructure and other areas of strategic economic cooperation.

In his vote of thanks, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, Martins Imonite, said the committee would coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards the objectives of the Nigeria-US cooperation framework.

The partnership comes as countries seek secure supplies of critical minerals used in electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy systems and other advanced technologies. For Nigeria, the challenge will be to convert its mineral endowment into domestic processing capacity, manufacturing, jobs and higher export earnings.

The federal government has repeatedly identified the solid minerals sector as a major component of its economic diversification drive under the Renewed Hope Agenda, seeking to reduce dependence on crude oil and expand non-oil revenue.