Nigeria Positions Mining as $700bn Economic Pillar — SMDF
Folalumi Alaran in Abuja
The Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) has reiterated that credible mining finance remains the engine that can convert Nigeria’s vast geological potential into jobs, industrial capacity, and national prosperity.
The Fund also revealed that the mining sector’s contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has risen from less than one percent to 4.6 percent, reflecting renewed investor confidence under the current reform agenda.
Executive Secretary of SMDF, Hajia Fatima Umaru Shinkafi, disclosed this in Abuja yesterday during the inaugural Ore Reserves Development Forum (ORDF) Inception Workshop, themed “Building a Sustainable Mining Finance Framework for Nigeria.”
The workshop brought together financiers, regulators, geoscientists, operators, and policymakers to design a unified pathway for financing Nigeria’s mining value chain.
Represented by Head of Project Development Dr. Martina Ananaba, Shinkafi said Nigeria is richly endowed with strategic and precious minerals across all 36 states and the FCT, but the country is still at the early stage of transforming that wealth into economic value.
“Due to ongoing policy and structural reforms by the Honourable Minister, Dr. Dele Alake, the sector which previously contributed less than one percent to the nation’s GDP now contributes 4.6 percent — still modest when compared to countries like South Africa and Ghana,” she said.
She likened Nigeria’s current mining landscape to Saudi Arabia a decade ago, Australia in the early 2000s, and Botswana in the 1980s — nations that turned natural resource wealth into diversified economic growth.
“With an estimated $700 billion in mineral potential, Nigeria is positioning mining as a new economic pillar. To achieve this, we must codify data, harmonise exploration practices, and build credible financing structures that inspire investor confidence,” she added.
Shinkafi emphasised that sustainable growth in the sector depends on bankable projects supported by strong geological data, transparent reserve reporting, and financial discipline.
In his remarks, Chairman of the Ore Reserve Development Forum (ORDF) and President of the Geological Society of Nigeria, Uba Saidu Malami, said the Forum was conceived to address long-standing gaps in ore reserve classification, technical capacity, and reporting standards — key reasons many Nigerian mining companies fail to meet international financing criteria.
He observed that security challenges in mining zones are not unique to Nigeria, noting similar issues in other resource-rich regions worldwide.
“A mineral can only evolve into a reserve and attract investment when there is industry-wide harmony, credibility, and accepted standards, until we know the true value of what lies beneath our soil, we cannot price our assets, attract investors, or build an efficient mining ecosystem.”
He said the Forum’s work would help ensure that data on paper matches reality beneath the ground, guiding miners and exploration firms on how to define, certify, and grow the value of their licences and assets.
Speaking on behalf of the Fund, Technical Adviser, Mr. Abdulmajeed Oyeyemi Amussah, said the SMDF exists to de-risk mining projects and channel capital toward credible, investment-ready ventures.
“Our job is to convert informal extraction into formal, productive ventures, every project we support goes through technical, environmental, and financial vetting to ensure credibility.”
He noted that many of Nigeria’s mineral deposits are shallow and dominated by artisanal miners, making it difficult to attract structured finance.
Amussah said a recent early-stage exploration funding window revealed significant capacity gaps, with fewer than ten applicants meeting minimum technical and financial standards out of thousands of mining licence holders nationwide.
Also speaking, a finance expert with Montt Capital, Jon Callaghan, projected that Nigeria’s mining industry could overtake oil and gas within 25 years if exploration receives sustained investment.
“The government has created an enabling environment,” he said. “The next step is for investors to put money into exploration, because without exploration, there can be no mining — and without risk capital, there can be no exploration.”
Callaghan disclosed that experts are working with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to replicate global mining finance structures, drawing lessons from the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), and London’s AIM, where most global mining assets are funded.
He said the goal is to develop a Mining Finance Framework that defines clear reporting standards, identifies appropriate financial instruments for each project stage, and creates a stable policy environment for investors.
