Nigeria said it discovered new deposits of valuable copper, lithium, and rare earth minerals, a potential boost for the West African nation as it seeks to woo more international mining investment in a bid to diversify its oil-dominant economy.
The solid minerals minister said there were significant deposits found in the northern Kaduna state, which also include gold and nickel, adding that they were of “exceptionally high grades.”
President Bola Tinubu is pushing to revise Nigeria’s mining framework in a bid to grow the sector; Abuja said last month it has attracted $2.6 billion in foreign direct investment into the industry over the past 2.5 years. The country is looking to join continental heavyweights such as DR Congo, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe in the mineral extraction sector. Most of their mineral resources are sent to China for processing, but some countries are pushing to capture a greater share of the value of the minerals, which are central for renewable energy and defense manufacturing.
