Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
Nigeria and the United States have taken steps to deepen their strategic partnership with a renewed focus on attracting investment into the country’s solid minerals sector and strengthening cooperation across the critical minerals value chain.
The development followed a high-level meeting at the White House where the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, led a delegation from the Nigeria Solid Minerals Company (NSMC) to hold talks with David Copley, Special Assistant to the U.S. President and Senior Director for Global Supply Chain at the U.S. National Security Council, alongside Diana London of DCI Group.
The discussions centred on expanding collaboration in geological exploration, mining, mineral processing, value addition and refining, while also strengthening secure and resilient supply chains for critical minerals essential to the global energy transition.
The meeting also explored opportunities to increase U.S. investment in Nigeria’s solid minerals industry as part of efforts to unlock the country’s vast mineral resources and promote sustainable sector growth.
According to the Ministry, the engagement is in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises economic diversification, industrialisation, job creation and the attraction of strategic foreign investment.
It added that the talks further reinforce the growing U.S.-Nigeria partnership through investment-driven cooperation aimed at promoting sustainable mineral development, expanding local value addition and delivering shared economic prosperity for both countries.
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