The Federal Government has said its strategic minerals partnership with the United States is aimed at attracting investment, transferring technology and expanding local mineral processing, dismissing claims that Nigeria had sold $700bn worth of solid minerals to the US.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, said the agreement did not involve the sale or transfer of ownership of Nigeria’s mineral assets.
Alake spoke on Wednesday while inaugurating the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector, established to advance the bilateral partnership.
“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” he said.
The minister explained that the agreement was a government-to-government framework designed to facilitate business engagements between American investors and Nigerian mining operators.
According to him, the arrangement would help mobilise investment into the mining sector, encourage technology transfer, strengthen domestic processing capacity and create jobs.
He also rejected reports that the agreement would give the US control over Nigeria’s mineral resources or security architecture, describing such claims as misinformation.
The cooperation framework followed engagements between both countries during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Alake said the partnership was part of the Federal Government’s broader effort to change how Nigeria derives economic value from its natural resources, particularly in a sector where raw minerals have historically been extracted and exported with limited domestic processing.
He noted that Nigeria had depended heavily on oil revenues for decades, while significant portions of the solid minerals sector remained informal.
To address the challenge, the minister said the government had introduced policies requiring prospective mining investors to present clear plans for local mineral processing before obtaining mineral titles.
He added that the policy had encouraged the establishment of processing facilities across the country, including a lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State, which he described as the largest in West Africa. The facility was recently commissioned by Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
Also speaking at the event, the Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said the administration of President Donald Trump had identified energy, artificial intelligence, superintelligence and critical minerals as priority areas for US diplomatic engagement.
Baas said Washington was seeking partnerships that would strengthen critical mineral supply chains while ensuring that partner countries benefited from the economic value generated.
He disclosed that a contract had been signed to explore the development of artificial intelligence data centres in Nigeria.
“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.
The initiative is expected to deepen engagement between Nigerian mining operators and American investors, with local processing, technology adoption and domestic economic benefits among the key objectives outlined by the government.
